Behavior modification: a perspective

Behavior modification is an approach for changing behavior based on a preliminary study of the individual. Behavior change is attempted once the individual's learning characteristics and the identification of the optimal learning conditions for the learner have been analyzed. The ability to analyze systematically and to develop behavior-environment relationships also brings a responsibility to the user to understand and master the principles and procedures of behavior modification. This article basically ignores the issue of selecting broad treatment goals and the authority of clinicians or teachers to work actively toward achieving these goals. The principal focus is to provide a perspective on the evaluation and use of behavior modification programs based on their conceptual and procedural foundations. Criticisms and the misuse of behavior modification programs are included as well as a set of guidelines for evaluating and developing effective ones.     

Personal responsibility and altruism in children.

Applied P. G. Zimbardo's (1970) deindividuation model to the study of prosocial behavior by asking 177 4–13 yr old Halloween trick-or-treaters in groups of 2–5 Ss to donate candy to hospitalized children under 3 conditions. The designation of personal responsibility for the amount donated was manipulated as follows: no child identified as responsible; one child identified as responsible; and each child identified as responsible. As predicted, personal responsibility increased the likelihood of contributing as well as the number of candies donated. Assigning individual responsibility increased the number of candies donated by each S only if they were in small groups. The absence of a similar outcome among Ss in large groups suggests that the greater social support and/or the greater potential for the diffusion of responsibility in these groups effectively countered the effect of the manipulation of responsibility. (19 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Interaction of estradiol and LHRH on LH release in rhesus females: evidence for a neural site of action

The effects on LH release of infusing luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone (LHRH 80 mug/20 min) into the third ventricle, the pituitary, and the peripheral circulation were compared in spayed rhesus monkeys. Within 30 min after iv administration, serum LH concentrations increased to twice to preinfusion levels, and by 120 min declined to original values. Intraventricular or intrapituitary infusions of LHRH resulted in similar LH increments, but the peaks occurred somewhat later (70 to 90 min) and the elevations persisted beyond 200 min. Estradiol-17beta (E2) administered by a sc silastic capsule caused a 5-fold increase in serum E2 within 1 h and reduced serum LH levels by 65% within 4 h. The LH release caused by intrapituitary LHRH was significantly suppressed by maintaining for 72 h E2 concentrations near 100 pg/ml, a level inadequate for stimulating an LH surge. A comparable E2 treatment before intraventricular infusion of LHRH, however, did not inhibit LH release. This difference between the effects of intrapituitary and intraventricular LHRH was demonstrable only in E2-treated monkeys. Moreover, the release of LH after intraventricular infusion of LHRH in E2-treated females was blocked (P less than 0.001) by a single iv injection (90 min before LHRH) of haloperidol (1 mg/kg BW) or phentolamine (5 mg/kg), but was not altered by phenoxybenzamine (3 mg/kg) or propranolol (5 mg/kg). Without E2 pretreatment, LH release after intraventricular LHRH was enhanced by each drug. Phentolamine, injected into both E2- and non-E2-treated monkeys 90 min before an intrapituitary infusion of LHRH had no demonstrable effects on the patterns of serum LH. Our interpretation of these data is that E2 at a concentration below the level that triggers an LH surge has a dual action on LHRH-induced LH release in monkeys: an inhibitory effect exerted directly on the pituitary and a stimulatory effect on the brain. Furthermore, the paradoxical effects of the drugs with and without E2 are due to the involvement of two distinct neuronal systems. The postulated neural effects of both E2 and these drugs can be explained either by an increase in the quantity of injected or secreted LHRH which ultimately binds to LH-secreting cells or by the release of additional endogenous LH-stimulating agents together with ventricular LHRH.     

The influence of live and symbolic modeling on promoting moral judgment of adolescent delinquents.

Compared the influence of live, symbolic, or no modeling on the promotion of intentionality in 3 groups of 12 13-yr-old delinquent males. Generalizability of effect was assessed through performance on a 2nd related but nonmanipulated aspect of moral judgment, moral relativism. Both live and symbolic modeling produced very significant increases in intentionality compared to controls. No significant differences were obtained between groups on moral relativism, although all 3 groups decreased slightly on this dimension on posttest. A 9-mo follow-up revealed no differences between groups in number or severity of intervening delinquent offenses. Treatment effects are discussed in terms of their depth and generalizability as well as their relationships to moral behavior in delinquency. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

GUS,a frame-driven dialog system

GUS is the first of a series of experimental computer systems that we intend to construct as part of a program of research on language understanding. In large measure, these systems will fill the role of periodic progress reports, summarizing what we have learned, assessing the mutual coherence of the various lines of investigation we have been following, and suggesting where more emphasis is needed in future work. GUS (Genial Understander System) is intended to engage a sympathetic and highly cooperative human in an English dialog, directed towards a specific goal within a very restricted domain of discourse. As a starting point, GUS was restricted to the role of a travel agent in a conversation with a client who wants to make a simple return trip to a single city in California.There is good reason for restricting the domain of discourse for a computer system which is to engage in an English dialog. Specializing the subject matter that the system can talk about permits it to achieve some measure of realism without encompassing all the possibilities of human knowledge or of the English language. It also provides the user with specific motivation for participating in the conversation, thus narrowing the range of expectations that GUS must have about the user's purposes. A system restricted in this way will be more able to guide the conversation within the boundaries of its competence.     

Macrogeneration: Thermal route for the future

Opportunities exist as never before for international cooperation to secure energy supplies for the future, with a balance of interests benefiting producer and consumer alike. Macrogeneration is the ultimate expression of energy strategy, involving large numbers of small producers, substituting for smaller numbers of larger generating units — with all their unacceptable dangers and difficulties. Norman Jenkins suggests that macrogeneration can introduce a new era of greater involvement for the consumer.     

Determining residence patterns of rainbow trout using laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) analysis of selenium in otoliths

Toxicological studies are often hampered by concerns of fish residency in the industrial effluent being evaluated. Contaminants in muscle or visceral tissue are useful indicators of recent exposure, but depuration, metabolic transformation, and tissue recompartmentalization of contaminants makes their use as temporal markers tenuous. Otoliths are metabolically stable and can provide temporal resolution for exposure to some elements that are incorporated into their calcified structure, including the divalent cations Sr, Zn, and Mn. Here we provide the first determinations of selenium, an anion in biological systems, in the otoliths of rainbow trout captured from a site receiving runoff with elevated selenium from a coal mine operation. Concentrations of selenium in annual growth zones of otoliths suggest that fish from the mine-impacted system are recent immigrants from nearby reference streams not receiving selenium-bearing effluent.     

Detection of green fluorescent protein in a single bacterium by capillary electrophoresis with laser-induced fluorescence

Green fluorescence protein (GFP) is a common reporter used to monitor protein expression in single cells. However, autofluorescence from endogenous components can mask the signal from GFP, particularly at low expression levels in prokaryotes. We employ capillary electrophoresis with laser-induced fluorescence for the analysis of the expression of green fluorescent protein in a single bacterium. Capillary electrophoresis separates GFP from native cellular autofluorescent components, reducing the background signal and improving detection limits. Our system provides 100 ymol (60 copies) limits of detection for GFP. To demonstrate the performance of this instrument, we employ a model system of Deinococcus radiodurans that has been engineered to express GFP under the control of the recA promoter. We report resolution and detection of GFP and autofluorescent components in a single D. radiodurans bacterium. This paper presents the first example of expression of GFP in D. radiodurans and the first detection of GFP in a single bacterium by capillary electrophoresis.     

Characterization of Cationic Polyelectrolytes Adsorption to an Anionic Emulsion via Zeta-Potential and Microcalorimetry

The adsorption of cationic polyelectrolytes (PEs) onto anionic silicone emulsion droplets, suspended in a sodium chloride solution is studied via electrophoretic mobility measurements and isothermal titration calorimetry. These model systems are studied to better understand the interactions governing PE adsorption-induced emulsion flocculation, which is relevant to many industrial applications. Electrophoretic mobility measurements provide critical information for rationalizing the effect of the PE charge density on the loss of stability of silicone emulsions. The interaction strength is calculated from a Langmuir adsorption isotherm determined by a ζ-potential titration measurement. Microcalorimetry measurements independently validate the adsorption free energy. Emulsion flocculation and coacervation are observed in the visual phase behavior as well as the ζ-potential titration measurements. The effect of PE charge density shows that PE-surfactant coacervation is the driving force in these PE-emulsion systems.