The Relationship Between Aversive Conditioning and Risk-avoidance in Gambling

This study investigated the relationship between aversive conditioning, heart rate variability suppression, behavioral activation system/behavioral inhibition system and risk-avoidance on the Iowa gambling task (IGT) in a nonclinical sample (29 male, 29 female, mean age = 20.7). A laboratory based Pavlovian aversive conditioning paradigm was used where a 1500 Hz tone (CS+) was followed by a burst of loud white noise (US), and a 850 Hz (CS−) tone was never followed by the US. In a subsequent extinction phase where the CS+ and CS− were presented without the US, conditioned skin conductance responses to the CS+ indicated aversive conditioning. The results showed that the participants who did not show aversive conditioning (N = 26) exhibited significantly less risk-avoidance compared to participants who did show aversive conditioning (N = 32). Regression analysis showed that among the study variables, only aversive conditioning contributed significantly to explaining variance in risk-avoidance. These results may have implications for understanding risk-taking in gambling in general, and may be a starting point understanding the role of aversive conditioning in the development and maintenance of gambling problems.     

A simplified proof of a theorem on the difference of the moore–penrose inverses of two positive semi–difinte matrices

Simplified proofs are given of a standard result that establishes positive semi–definiteness of the difference of the inverses of two non–singular matrices, and of the extension of this result by Milliken and Akdeniz (1977) to the difference of the Moore–Penrose inverse of two singular matrices.     

Partisan Political Identification among White Ethnic Groups: An Historical Analysis

Abstract

This article presents evidence and argument dealing with partisan political identification among white ethnic groups. Recently, numerous political commentators and analysts have argued that the ethnic-labor component of the New Deal coalition is in the midst of collapse and decay, and that white ethnics are re-aligning with the Republican Party. Through an analysis of public opinion data gathered between 1936 and 1974, the partisan re-alignment theory is critically examined. The data show little or no support for the idea that Catholic and Jewish ethnics are identifying more closely with the Republican Party. Data show that degree of identification with the Democrats is nearly the same in 1974 as it was in 1936.     

调整“大地依恋”的层级:关注跨层级思维的艺术表达

当代"场所"理论的建构陷入僵局,人们各持己见,而跨层级思维则有利于培育新的"场所感"范式。跨层级思维指在不同的场所层级之间来回转换,反复变焦,把地方-全球讨论置于"层级"和"依恋"语境中。当前许多环境文本如摄影作品、著作等都运用调整"大地依恋"层级的策略,帮助当代读者以多种视角理解自我与场所的深层联系。跨层级思维意味着将对某一特定场所体验的精微性与对全球体验的广大性结合起来,理解人们的生活给环境带来的真实影响,培育新的也许是有效应对当今世界严峻现实的认知习惯与思维方式,使人们适应变化中的世界,并促使他们克服对可能令人麻痹的抽象问题视而不见的倾向。     

'In the real world we're all put on the spot at some time or other,so you need to be prepared for it': An exploratory study of an oral method of assessing knowledge of mental health law

The education and training of Approved Social Workers (ASWs) involves at least 60 days of college and practice-based learning. A major component of the college-based curriculum is the teaching and assessment of knowledge of mental health law. One programme in England assesses student knowledge of law by an oral examination that includes a case discussion and questions about the Mental Health Act 1983. Oral assessment of knowledge of law is commonplace for those entering legal professions. Oral assessment of clinical knowledge in professions such as medicine and psychiatry is similarly frequent. However, examination by oral assessment is not usual in social work education. An exploratory study by postal questionnaire of all past students of the programme and their line managers was undertaken to establish their views of this means of assessing knowledge of law. This paper considers the results of the research and outlines student perceptions of the law oral assessment as preparation for practice as an ASW. The paper focuses on three distinct but interlinked areas--education, assessment and practice--and suggests some implications for educators and practitioners, which are especially relevant in the light of the current review of mental health legislation.     

Auditory Distress Signals Potentiate Attentional Bias to Fearful Faces: Evidence for Multimodal Facilitation of Spatial Attention by Emotion

Unimodal emotionally salient visual and auditory stimuli capture attention and have been found to do so cross-modally. However, little is known about the combined influences of auditory and visual threat cues on directing spatial attention. In particular, fearful facial expressions signal the presence of danger and capture attention. Yet, it is unknown whether human auditory distress signals that accompany fearful facial expressions potentiate their capture of attention. It was hypothesized that the capture of attention by fearful faces would be enhanced when co-presented with auditory distress signals. To test this hypothesis, we used a modified multimodal dot-probe task where fearful faces were paired with three sound categories: no sound control, non-distressing human vocalizations, and distressing human vocalizations. Fearful faces captured attention across all three sound conditions. In addition, this effect was potentiated when fearful faces were paired with auditory distress signals. The results provide initial evidence suggesting that emotional attention is facilitated by multisensory integration.     

Modernization and the Demographic Transition: Cross-Sectional and Longitudinal Analyses of a Revised Model

Abstract

We specify a revised model of the demographic transition which accounts for national fertility levels and changes over the past two decades. The model includes cultural, geographic, demographic and family planning program variables, in addition to a measure of national socio-economic modernization. Using crude birth rates for 117 countries, we operationalize and then apply the revised model to 1974 rates, and then test a longitudinal model of 1955–59 to 1974 change in rates. A final model for 81 less developed nations from the original set of 117 countries includes a measure of family planning program effort. Including this highly significant measure in a model of 1955–59 to 1974 change results in further evidence favoring modification of the traditional demographic transition model. Implications for the future course of fertility in underdeveloped countries are discussed.     

Hybrid Processing of Stochastic and Subjective Uncertainty Data

Uncertainty analyses typically recognize separate stochastic and subjective sources of uncertainty, but do not systematically combine the two, although a large amount of data used in analyses is partly stochastic and partly subjective. We have developed methodology for mathematically combining stochastic and subjective sources of data uncertainty, based on new "hybrid number" approaches. The methodology can be utilized in conjunction with various traditional techniques, such as PRA (probabilistic risk assessment) and risk analysis decision support. Hybrid numbers have been previously examined as a potential method to represent combinations of stochastic and subjective information, but mathematical processing has been impeded by the requirements inherent in the structure of the numbers, e.g., there was no known way to multiply hybrids. In this paper, we will demonstrate methods for calculating with hybrid numbers that avoid the difficulties. By formulating a hybrid number as a probability distribution that is only fuzzily known, or alternatively as a random distribution of fuzzy numbers, methods are demonstrated for the full suite of arithmetic operations, permitting complex mathematical calculations. It will be shown how information about relative subjectivity (the ratio of subjective to stochastic knowledge about a particular datum) can be incorporated. Techniques are also developed for conveying uncertainty information visually, so that the stochastic and subjective components of the uncertainty, as well as the ratio of knowledge about the two, are readily apparent. The techniques demonstrated have the capability to process uncertainty information for independent, uncorrelated data, and for some types of dependent and correlated data. Example applications are suggested, illustrative problems are shown, and graphical results are given.