Contrasts in Infant Classical Eyeblink Conditioning as a Function of Premature Birth

The impact of premature birth on associative learning was evaluated using simple delay eyeblink conditioning in which a tone conditional stimulus was paired with an air puff unconditional stimulus. Fourteen preterm (28–31 weeks gestation) and 11 full‐term infants completed at least 3 conditioning sessions, 1 week apart, at 5 months of age (corrected age). Preterm and full‐term groups demonstrated associative learning, as confirmed by comparison with an unpaired control group. Preterm infants, however, exhibited more variability in their learning rates. The majority of full‐term infants and half the preterm infants exhibited rapid acquisition and gradual extinction of conditional responding. A greater proportion of preterm than full‐term infants failed to acquire conditional responding within 2 training sessions. Differences in associative learning rates were not the result of differences in arousal or attentional processes. Diversity in acquisition rates exposed an increased risk for disrupted infant learning due to premature birth.     

The Quality of Recent Pacific Sociological Association (PSA) Meetings: Location,Session Quality and Institutional Change

Employing data (n?=?734) collected from those having attended the Pacific Sociological Association (PSA) annual meetings held in San Diego, California (2012) and Reno, Nevada (2013), we test whether session quality and host-city satisfaction are positively associated with how respondents rated the overall quality of the meetings. A majority (54 %) of respondents reported the quality of the meetings highly (“Above Average” or “Excellent”), and suggestive of the importance of conference location, this declined from 64 % in 2012 to 41 % in 2013. Controlling for individual characteristics and institutional affiliation, regression results intimate that both host-city satisfaction and session quality are positively associated with how respondents rated the overall quality of the meetings. And they suggest that the former is somewhat more important than the latter for explaining variation in meeting quality. A final stage of our analysis (n?=?205) finds that attendees’ evaluations of changes in how the 2013 PSA meetings were developed and organized are positively associated with meeting quality without diminishing the independent effects of session or location quality. We discuss implications of these results for future PSA meetings, as well as for research investigating how to improve the quality of regional academic conferences more generally.     

Towards Understanding Variations in Social Care for Older People in England

Indicators of the public provision of old age social care are routinely recorded in England and have been used for diverse purposes including performance monitoring. Despite long‐term policy guidance promoting more homogeneous service provision, large variations can still be observed between local authorities (the providers of state‐funded social care). Our aim is to better understand such variations in a small selection of key aggregate indicators. Drawing on multiple data sources and pursuing a two‐step strategy, we first assess the explanatory power of a set of structural predictors and then add to the models a set of specific care management ‘process’ predictors. We find that structural factors beyond the control of local authorities explain a considerable share of the observable variation. The additional explanatory power of care management characteristics is small in comparison. Therefore, our findings suggest that caution must be taken when aggregate indicators of service provision are used for performance monitoring purposes, as a degree of autonomy over outcomes may be implied which in light of the empirical evidence is unrealistic. Past attempts to influence the aggregate pattern of service provision – apparently seeking greater ‘territorial justice’– are likely to have had adverse implications for service users and the uniformity of service delivery across England. Questions are raised about the adequate role of central government in a policy environment characterized by longstanding local government responsibility.