CiteULike: Tag behavior

Blink : The Power of Thinking Without Thinking

Malcolm Gladwell — 2005-03-29T17:16:21-00:00

(11 January 2005)

Blink is about the first two seconds of looking--the decisive glance that knows in an instant. Gladwell, the best-selling author of The Tipping Point, campaigns for snap judgments and mind reading with a gift for translating research into splendid storytelling. Building his case with scenes from a marriage, heart attack triage, speed dating, choking on the golf course, selling cars, and military maneuvers, he persuades readers to think small and focus on the meaning of "thin slices" of behavior. The key is to rely on our "adaptive unconscious"--a 24/7 mental valet--that provides us with instant and sophisticated information to warn of danger, read a stranger, or react to a new idea. Gladwell includes caveats about leaping to conclusions: marketers can manipulate our first impressions, high arousal moments make us "mind blind," focusing on the wrong cue leaves us vulnerable to "the Warren Harding Effect" (i.e., voting for a handsome but hapless president). In a provocative chapter that exposes the "dark side of blink," he illuminates the failure of rapid cognition in the tragic stakeout and murder of Amadou Diallo in the Bronx. He underlines studies about autism, facial reading and cardio uptick to urge training that enhances high-stakes decision-making. In this brilliant, cage-rattling book, one can only wish for a thicker slice of Gladwell's ideas about what Blink Camp might look like. --Barbara Mackoff How do we make decisions--good and bad--and why are some people so much better at it than others? Thats the question Malcolm Gladwell asks and answers in the follow-up to his huge bestseller, The Tipping Point. Utilizing case studies as diverse as speed dating, pop music, and the shooting of Amadou Diallo, Gladwell reveals that what we think of as decisions made in the blink of an eye are much more complicated than assumed. Drawing on cutting-edge neuroscience and psychology, he shows how the difference between good decision-making and bad has nothing to do with how much information we can process quickly, but on the few particular details on which we focus. Leaping boldly from example to example, displaying all of the brilliance that made The Tipping Point a classic, Gladwell reveals how we can become better decision makers--in our homes, our offices, and in everyday life. The result is a book that is surprising and transforming. Never again will you think about thinking the same way.

The Meaning of Things : Domestic Symbols and the Self

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi — 2005-05-15T19:46:34-00:00

(30 October 1981)

Remembering : A Study in Experimental and Social Psychology

FC Bartlett — 2005-05-15T19:37:10-00:00

(30 June 1995)

The Evolution of Social Behavior

RD Alexander — 2008-04-12T17:28:53-00:00

Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics, Vol. 5, No. 1. (1974), pp. 325-383.

Social Exchange Theory

RM Emerson — 2008-04-12T17:20:48-00:00

Annual Review of Sociology, Vol. 2, No. 1. (1976), pp. 335-362.

Expression Level of sarah, a Homolog of DSCR1, Is Critical for Ovulation and Female Courtship Behavior in Drosophila melanogaster

Aki Ejima — 2007-08-22T23:37:21-00:00

Genetics, Vol. 168, No. 4. (1 December 2004), pp. 2077-2087.

To better understand the genetic bases of postmating responses in Drosophila melanogaster females, we screened a collection of PGS insertion lines and identified two insertions in sarah (sra), whose misexpression in the nervous system induced high levels of ovulation in virgins. The gene sra encodes a protein similar to human Down syndrome critical region 1 (DSCR1). The ovulation phenotype was reproduced in transgenic virgins expressing UAS-sra in the nervous system. The flies also extruded the ovipositor toward courting males as seen in wild-type mated females, supporting the notion that ovulation and behavioral patterns are physiologically coupled. The sra insertions were found to be hypomorphic alleles with reduced expression levels. Females homozygous for these alleles show: (1) spontaneous ovulation in virgins, (2) sterility with impaired meiotic progression, and (3) compromised postmating responses with lower ovulation level, higher remating rate, and shorter period for restoration of receptivity. No obvious defects were observed in the homozygous males. The gene sra is predominantly expressed in oocytes, nurse cells, and the nervous system. Taken together, these results indicate that the expression level of sra is critical for ovulation and female courtship behavior, including their postmating changes. 10.1534/genetics.104.029934

Why don't physicians follow clinical practice guidelines? A framework for improvement.

MD Cabana — 2005-10-13T22:54:07-00:00

JAMA, Vol. 282, No. 15. (20 October 1999), pp. 1458-1465.

CONTEXT: Despite wide promulgation, clinical practice guidelines have had limited effect on changing physician behavior. Little is known about the process and factors involved in changing physician practices in response to guidelines. OBJECTIVE: To review barriers to physician adherence to clinical practice guidelines. DATA SOURCES: We searched the MEDLINE, Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC), and HealthSTAR databases (January 1966 to January 1998); bibliographies; textbooks on health behavior or public health; and references supplied by experts to find English-language article titles that describe barriers to guideline adherence. STUDY SELECTION: Of 5658 articles initially identified, we selected 76 published studies describing at least 1 barrier to adherence to clinical practice guidelines, practice parameters, clinical policies, or national consensus statements. One investigator screened titles to identify candidate articles, then 2 investigators independently reviewed the texts to exclude articles that did not match the criteria. Differences were resolved by consensus with a third investigator. DATA EXTRACTION: Two investigators organized barriers to adherence into a framework according to their effect on physician knowledge, attitudes, or behavior. This organization was validated by 3 additional investigators. DATA SYNTHESIS: The 76 articles included 120 different surveys investigating 293 potential barriers to physician guideline adherence, including awareness (n = 46), familiarity(n = 31), agreement (n = 33), self-efficacy (n = 19), outcome expectancy (n = 8), ability to overcome the inertia of previous practice (n = 14), and absence of external barriers to perform recommendations (n = 34). The majority of surveys (70 [58%] of 120) examined only 1 type of barrier. CONCLUSIONS: Studies on improving physician guideline adherence may not be generalizable, since barriers in one setting may not be present in another. Our review offers a differential diagnosis for why physicians do not follow practice guidelines, as well as a rational approach toward improving guideline adherence and a framework for future research.

Evidence for the effectiveness of techniques To change physician behavior.

WR Smith — 2005-10-13T23:09:48-00:00

Chest, Vol. 118, No. 2 Suppl. (August 2000)

STUDY OBJECTIVES: To understand the theory and results of how to improve physician performance, as part of overall health-care quality improvement. In particular, to study whether and how guideline production and dissemination affects physician performance. DESIGN: Review of meta-analyses and structured reviews; review of behavior change theories implicit in interventions to change physician performance. SETTING: Primarily the United States. Patients or participants: Various patients and physicians, determined by reviews. INTERVENTIONS: None. Measurements and results: There is no unifying theory of physician behavior change tested among physicians in practice. Attempts to affect individual physicians' performance have often met with failure. Mixed results are found for almost all interventions reviewed. Multiple interventions yield better results. CONCLUSIONS: The answer to the question of what works to improve an individual physician's clinical performance is not simple. Emerging theory and evidence suggests that applications of behavior-change methods should not be focused on which tools (don't) always work. Instead, guideline development and implementation methods should be theory driven and evidence based (supported by evidence that proves the theory correct). In particular, the framework of evidence-based quality assessment offers some insight into past failures and offers hope for organizing attempts at guideline implementation.

Clinical decision support provided within physician order entry systems: a systematic review of features effective for changing clinician behavior.

K Kawamoto — 2005-10-13T00:47:32-00:00

AMIA Annu Symp Proc (2003), pp. 361-365.

Computerized physician order entry (CPOE) systems represent an important tool for providing clinical decision support. In undertaking this systematic review, our objective was to identify the features of CPOE-based clinical decision support systems (CDSSs) most effective at modifying clinician behavior. For this review, two independent reviewers systematically identified randomized controlled trials that evaluated the effectiveness of CPOE-based CDSSs in changing clinician behavior. Furthermore, each included study was assessed for the presence of 14 CDSS features. We screened 10,023 citations and included 11 studies. Of the 10 studies comparing a CPOE-based CDSS intervention against a non-CDSS control group, 7 reported a significant desired change in professional practice. Moreover, meta-regression analysis revealed that automatic provision of the decision support was strongly associated with improved professional practice (adjusted odds ratio, 23.72; 95% confidence interval, 1.75-infiniti). Thus, we conclude that automatic provision of decision support is a critical feature of successful CPOE-based CDSS interventions.

Electronic journals and user behavior: A review of recent research

Ian Rowlands — 2007-11-26T22:17:09-00:00

Library & Information Science Research, Vol. 29, No. 3. (September 2007), pp. 369-396.

Characterising and evaluating information seeking behaviour in a digital environment: Spotlight on the `bouncer'

David Nicholas — 2008-02-28T20:51:16-00:00

Information Processing & Management, Vol. 43, No. 4. (July 2007), pp. 1085-1102.

The paper delineates and explains an emerging, but significant, form of digital information seeking behaviour among information consumers, which the authors have called `bouncing'. The evidence for this behaviour has emerged from five years of deep log analysis studies - an advanced form of transaction log analysis - of a wide range of users of digital information resources. Much of the evidence and discussion provided comes from the scholarly communication field. Two main bouncing metrics were applied in the log studies: site penetration, which is the number of items or pages viewed in a session, and return visits. The evidence shows that (1) a high proportion of people view just a few items or pages during a visit to a site and, (2) a high proportion of visitors either do not come back to the site or they did so infrequently. Typically those who penetrated a site least tended to return the least frequently. These people are termed `bouncers'. They bounce into the site and then bounce out again, presumably, to another site, as a high proportion of them do not appear to come back again. Possible explanations - negative and positive, for the form of behaviour are discussed.

What is enough? Satisficing information needs

Prabha — 2007-01-23T00:11:09-00:00

Journal of Documentation, Vol. 63, No. 1. (2007), pp. 74-89.

The information seeking behaviour of the users of digital scholarly journals

David Nicholas — 2006-09-30T20:03:59-00:00

Information Processing & Management, Vol. 42, No. 5. (September 2006), pp. 1345-1365.

The article employs deep log analysis (DLA) techniques, a more sophisticated form of transaction log analysis, to demonstrate what usage data can disclose about information seeking behaviour of virtual scholars - academics, and researchers. DLA works with the raw server log data, not the processed, pre-defined and selective data provided by journal publishers. It can generate types of analysis that are not generally available via proprietary web logging software because the software filters out relevant data and makes unhelpful assumptions about the meaning of the data. DLA also enables usage data to be associated with search/navigational and/or user demographic data, hence the name `deep'. In this connection the usage of two digital journal libraries, those of EmeraldInsight, and Blackwell Synergy are investigated. The information seeking behaviour of nearly three million users is analyzed in respect to the extent to which they penetrate the site, the number of visits made, as well as the type of items and content they view. The users are broken down by occupation, place of work, type of subscriber ("Big Deal", non-subscriber, etc.), geographical location, type of university (old and new), referrer link used, and number of items viewed in a session.

Information seeking behavior of academic scientists

Bradley Hemminger — 2007-11-29T15:30:18-00:00

Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, Vol. 58, No. 14. (2007), pp. 2205-2225.

The information seeking behavior of academic scientists is being transformed by the availability of electronic resources for searching, retrieving, and reading scholarly materials. A census survey was conducted of academic science researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to capture their current information seeking behavior. Nine hundred two subjects (26%) completed responses to a 15-minute Web-based survey. The survey questions were designed to quantify the transition to electronic communications and how this affects different aspects of information seeking. Significant changes in information seeking behavior were found, including increased reliance on web based resources, fewer visits to the library, and almost entirely electronic communication of information. The results can guide libraries and other information service organizations as they adapt to meet the needs of today's information searchers. Simple descriptive statistics are reported for the individual questions. Additionally, analysis of results is broken out by basic science and medical science departments. The survey tool and protocol used in this study have been adopted for use in a nationwide survey of the information seeking behavior of academic scientists.

Understanding Information Behaviour: How Do Students and Faculty Find Books?

Ian Rowlands — 2008-02-15T18:00:15-00:00

The Journal of Academic Librarianship, Vol. 34, No. 1. (January 2008), pp. 3-15.

Faculty and students at University College London (UCL) were polled online in November 2006 as part of a wider investigation into the impact of e-books in UK higher education. One of the survey questions probed the strategies that members of the academic community use to identify the conventional printed books that they need for work, study, or leisure. This article reports on a quasi-experimental statistical investigation of the survey findings for this single question. Multivariate data analysis suggests that book discovery is very highly structured, with gender, subject discipline, and academic status offering powerful predictors of certain underlying behavioural strategies. A model of book discovery strategies is developed and this is used to help segment the survey population into those with high or low levels of dependence on formal library systems or nonlibrary-based solutions. The paper concludes with a discussion of some of the practical implications of these findings for librarians, publishers, and booksellers.

Influence of an Information Literacy Course on Students' Information Search Behavior

Weinert — 2007-04-29T16:22:30-00:00

Journal of Allied Health, Vol. 36, No. 1. (2007), pp. 1-E-12-E.

Understanding student information behavior in relation to electronic information services: Lessons from longitudinal monitoring and evaluation, Part 1

Jennifer Rowley — 2008-04-08T16:29:51-00:00

Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, Vol. 58, No. 8. (2007), pp. 1162-1174.

This two-part article establishes a model of the mediating factors that influence student information behavior concerning electronic or digital information sources that support their learning. The first part reviews the literature that underpinned the development of the research methodology for the Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC) User Behavior Monitoring and Evaluation Framework, as well as the literature that has subsequently helped to develop the model over the 5 years the Framework operated in the United Kingdom, in five cycles of research that were adjusted to meet the emerging needs of the JISC at the time. The literature review attempts to synthesize the two main perspectives in the research studies: (a) small-scale studies of student information behavior; and (b) the studies that focus on the quantitative usage of particular electronic information services in universities, often including implications for training and support. As the review indicates, there are gaps in the evidence concerning the browsing and selection strategies of undergraduate students and the interaction of some of the mediating influences on information behavior. The Framework developed a multimethod, qualitative and quantitative methodology for the continued monitoring of user behavior. This article discusses the methods used and the project-management challenges involved, and concludes that at the outset, intended impacts need to be specified carefully, and that funding needs to be committed at that point for a longitudinal study. A research project on information behavior, intended to inform current policymaking on infrastructure provision, is inherently difficult as behavior changes lag behind provision.

Understanding student information behavior in relation to electronic information services: Lessons from longitudinal monitoring and evaluation, Part 2

Christine Urquhart — 2008-04-08T16:29:02-00:00

Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, Vol. 58, No. 8. (2007), pp. 1188-1197.

This second part of a two-part article establishes a model of the mediating factors that influence student information behavior concerning the electronic or digital information sources used to support learning. This part discusses the findings of the Joint Information Systems Committee User Behavior Monitoring and Evaluation Framework (1999-2004) and development of a model that includes both the individual (micro) and organizational (macro) factors affecting student information behavior. The macro factors are information resource design, information and learning technology infrastructure, availability and constraints to access, policies and funding, and organizational leadership and culture. The micro factors are information literacy, academics' information behavior, search strategies, discipline and curriculum, support and training, and pedagogy. We conclude that the mediating factors interact in unexpected ways and that further research is needed to clarify how those interactions, particularly between the macro and micro factors, operate.

A Game-Theoretic Approach to Stochastic Security and Dependability Evaluation

Karin Sallhammar — 2008-03-11T12:10:45-00:00

Dependable, Autonomic and Secure Computing, 2nd IEEE International Symposium on (2006), pp. 61-68.

The complex networked computer systems of today are often vulnerable to a large number of failures, accidental as well as intentional. To be able to assess to what degree one can rely on such a system, new methods for quantitative evaluation is needed. This paper presents a stochastic model for integrated security and dependability evaluation, which models malicious attacker behavior as transitions between system states. To predict the probabilities of attack actions a game theoretic approach is applied. We demonstrate the method by computing security and dependability measures in two different case studies

Towards a Stochastic Model for Integrated Security and Dependability Evaluation

Karin Sallhammar — 2008-03-11T12:06:33-00:00

(2006), pp. 156-165.

Using Stochastic Game Theory to Compute the Expected Behavior of Attackers

K Sallhammar — 2008-03-11T12:02:23-00:00

Applications and the Internet Workshops, 2005. Saint Workshops 2005. The 2005 Symposium on (2005), pp. 102-105.

This paper presents ongoing work on using stochastic game theory as a mathematical tool for computing the expected behavior of attackers. The possible use of the Nash Equilibrium as a part of the transition probabilities in state transition models is defined and motivated. To demonstrate the approach, a simple example of an attack against a computer network is modelled and analyzed.

A method for modeling and quantifying the security attributes of intrusion tolerant systems

Bharat Madan — 2008-03-11T11:54:10-00:00

Perform. Eval., Vol. 56, No. 1-4. (2004), pp. 167-186.

Position Statement: Methodology to Support Dependable Survivable Cyber-Secure Infrastructures

FT Sheldon — 2008-03-07T10:11:23-00:00

System Sciences, 2005. HICSS '05. Proceedings of the 38th Annual Hawaii International Conference on (2005), pp. 310a-310a.

Information systems now form the backbone of nearly every government and private system. Increasingly these systems are networked together allowing for distributed operations, sharing of databases, and redundant capability. Ensuring these networks are secure, robust, and reliable is critical for the strategic and economic well being of the Nation. This paper argues in favor of a biologically inspired approach to creating survivable cyber-secure infrastructures (SCI). Our discussion employs the power transmission grid.

Insider Threat Prediction Tool: Evaluating the probability of IT misuse

GB Magklaras — 2008-03-11T16:15:50-00:00

Computers & Security, Vol. 21, No. 1. ( 2001), pp. 62-73.

Despite the well documented and emerging insider threat to information systems, there is currently no substantial effort devoted to addressing the problem of internal IT misuse. In fact, the great majority of misuse counter measures address forms of abuse originating from external factors (i.e. the perceived threat from unauthorized users). This paper suggests a new and innovative approach of dealing with insiders that abuse IT systems. The proposed solution estimates the level of threat that is likely to originate from a particular insider by introducing a threat evaluation system based on certain profiles of user behaviour. However, a substantial amount of work is required, in order to materialize and validate the proposed solutions.

Inoperability input-output modeling of disruptions to interdependent economic systems

Joost Santos — 2008-03-11T15:54:39-00:00

Systems Engineering, Vol. 9, No. 1. (2006), pp. 20-34.

In this study, the Inoperability Input-Output Model (IIM) is deployed for assessing the impacts of disruptive events on interconnected economic systems. The IIM is based on Wassily Leontief's input-output model which is capable of describing the ripple effects of disruptions to interdependent systems. Besides describing economic impact in financial terms, the

A holistic roadmap for survivable infrastructure systems

TA Longstaff — 2008-03-11T10:20:12-00:00

Systems, Man and Cybernetics, Part A, IEEE Transactions on, Vol. 32, No. 2. (2002), pp. 260-268.

The role of a holistic risk assessment and management process in information technology (IT), information assurance (IA), and survivable dependable systems is the subject of this paper. To address the multiple dimensions and perspectives of the risks of terrorism to cyber and interconnected physical infrastructures, hierarchical holographic modeling is introduced and is related to the risk assessment and management process. The definition of information assurance as the trust that information presented by the system is accurate and is properly represented necessitates that trust, knowledge management, organizational behavior, and other nontechnology-based considerations be addressed in the protection of IA against terrorist attacks.

Towards Model Checking Stochastic Process Algebra

Holger Hermanns — 2008-03-11T10:17:56-00:00

Integrated Formal Methods (2000), pp. 420-439.

Stochastic process algebras have been proven useful because they allow behaviour-oriented performance and reliability modelling. As opposed to traditional performance modelling techniques, the behaviour- oriented style supports composition and abstraction in a natural way. However, analysis of stochastic process algebra models is state-oriented, because standard numerical analysis is typically based on the calculation of (transient and steady) state probabilities. This shift of paradigms hampers the acceptance of the process algebraic approach by performance modellers. In this paper, we develop an entirely behaviour-oriented analysis technique for stochastic process algebras. The key contribution is an action-based temporal logic to describe behaviours-of-interest, together with a model checking algorithm to derive the probability with which a stochastic process algebra model exhibits a given behaviour-of-interest.

A Quantitative Model of the Security Intrusion Process Based on Attacker Behavior

Erland Jonsson — 2008-03-11T13:54:50-00:00

IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering, Vol. 23, No. 4, April (1997)

This paper is based on a conceptual framework in which security can be split into two generic types of characteristics, behavioral and preventive. Here, preventive security denotes the system's ability to protect itself from external attacks. One way to describe the preventive security of a system is in terms of its interaction with the alleged attacker, i.e., by describing the intrusion process. To our knowledge, very little is done to model this process in quantitative terms. Therefore, based ...

Risk management using behavior based attack graphs

R Dantu — 2008-03-11T13:14:18-00:00

Information Technology: Coding and Computing, 2004. Proceedings. ITCC 2004. International Conference on, Vol. 1 (2004), pp. 445-449 Vol.1.

Security administration is an uphill task to implement in an enterprise network providing secured corporate services. With the slew of patches being released by Microsoft, HP and other vendors, system administrators require a barrage of tools for analyzing the risk due to these vulnerabilities. In addition to this, criticalities in patching some end hosts (e.g., in hospitals) raises serious security issues about the network to which the end hosts are connected. In this context, it would be imperative to know the risk level of all critical resources (e.g., Oracle Server in HR department) keeping in view the everyday emerging new vulnerabilities. We hypothesize that sequence of network actions by an attacker depends on the social behavior (e.g., skill level, tenacity, financial ability). By verifying our hypothesis on hacker email communications, we extended this methodology and calculated risk level for a small network. Towards this goal, we formulated a mechanism to estimate the risk level of critical resources that may be compromised based on attacker behavior. This estimation is accomplished using behavior based attack graphs. These graphs represent all the possible attack paths to all the critical resources. Based on these graphs, we calculate the risk level of a critical resource using Bayesian methodology and periodically update the subjective beliefs about the occurrence of an attack. Such a calculated risk level would be a measure of the vulnerability of the resource and it forms an effective basis for a system administrator to perform suitable changes to network configuration. Thus suitable vulnerability analysis and risk management strategies can be formulated to efficiently curtail the risk from different types of attacker (script kiddies, hackers, criminals and insiders).

End-to-end packet delay and loss behavior in the internet

Jean-Chrysotome Bolot — 2008-07-30T19:18:04-00:00

SIGCOMM Comput. Commun. Rev., Vol. 23, No. 4. (October 1993), pp. 289-298.

End-to-end routing behavior in the internet

Vern Paxson — 2006-11-02T01:01:06-00:00

SIGCOMM Comput. Commun. Rev., Vol. 36, No. 5. (October 2006), pp. 41-56.

Agonistic behaviour in male and female field crickets, Gryllus bimaculatus, and how behavioural context influences its expression

Shelley Adamo — 2007-12-19T14:47:21-00:00

Animal Behaviour, Vol. 49, No. 6. (June 1995), pp. 1491-1501.

Previous interactions with conspecifics influenced the pattern, frequency and intensity of agonistic behaviour in the field cricket Gryllus bimaculatus. Tactile contact appeared to be the most important sensory cue responsible for the observed shifts in behaviour. Contact with other adult males promoted the production of aggressive song both during and after fights between males. However, individually housed males and males with restricted contact with conspecifics (once per day for 5 days) produced their aggressive song only at the end of an agonistic encounter. These two patterns of agonistic behaviour may reflect alternate fighting strategies. Prior experience influences whether sensory cues from a conspecific will initate agonistic behaviour. After males lost a fight, they displayed no further agonistic behaviour for 10 min but then gradually recovered their agonistic behaviour within an hour. This may be an important mechanism in preventing losing males from re-engaging a more powerful rival. Females were much less likely than males to attack conspecifics when food was plentiful. When food was scarce, females fought more often, and more successfully, than males for the contested resource.

Assessment of strength and willingness to fight during aggressive encounters in crickets

Hans Hofmann — 2007-12-19T14:41:00-00:00

Animal Behaviour, Vol. 62, No. 2. (August 2001), pp. 337-348.

Game theory predicts that at least some of the behaviour patterns displayed during aggressive encounters are used to assess asymmetries in variables that indicate fighting ability and resource value. Game theoretical models such as the sequential assessment game see assessment as the major activity during a fight. However, while these models acknowledge the existence of physical and motivational assessment parameters, there are only a few examples where a mechanism for the assessment of fighting readiness has been shown. In staged encounters between male Mediterranean field crickets, Gryllus bimaculatus, fighting behaviour follows a stereotyped escalation cascade with ritualized displays in the beginning and physical combat towards the end. Despite their larger size, heavier animals lost 30% of the encounters even if weight asymmetry was large. To examine whether the contestants provide assessment cues that might explain this surprising result, we analysed two stereotyped displays in detail (antennal fencing and mandible spreading). The duration of antennal fencing, which is necessary to initiate a fight, was independent of experience and weight asymmetry between the contestants, but was prolonged after shortening the antennae by almost 90%. Fights escalated only when antennal movement frequencies were high in both contestants. In blinded crickets few contests were settled by another ritualized display, mandible spreading, and fights that escalated beyond this stage were significantly shorter than in untreated crickets. We suggest that antennal fencing may be used to assess fighting readiness of the opponent, while mandible spreading may indicate fighting ability. We conclude that high willingness to fight may help crickets to overcome inferior fighting ability.

Molecular mechanisms of synaptic plasticity and memory.

Y Elgersma — 2007-03-11T08:49:22-00:00

Curr Opin Neurobiol, Vol. 9, No. 2. (April 1999), pp. 209-213.

To unravel the molecular and cellular bases of learning and memory is one of the most ambitious goals of modern science. The progress of recent years has not only brought us closer to understanding the molecular mechanisms underlying stable, long-lasting changes in synaptic strength, but it has also provided further evidence that these mechanisms are required for memory formation.

Molecular and cellular mechanisms of cognitive function: implications for psychiatric disorders.

AJ Silva — 2007-03-11T08:47:31-00:00

Biol Psychiatry, Vol. 47, No. 3. (1 February 2000), pp. 200-209.

Recent studies on the molecular and cellular basis of learning and memory have brought us closer than ever to understanding the mechanisms of synaptic plasticity and their relevance to memory formation. Genetic approaches have played a central role in these new findings because the same mutant mice can be studied with molecular, cellular, circuit, and behavioral tools. Therefore, the results can be used to construct models that cut across levels of analytical complexity, forging connections from the biochemistry of the modified protein to the behavior of the mutant mice. These findings are not only improving our understanding of learning and memory, they are also enriching our understanding of cognitive disorders, such as neurofibromatosis type I. Mechanisms underlying long-term changes in synaptic function are likely to be at the heart of many cognitive and emotional processes in humans. Therefore, molecular and cellular insights into learning and memory undoubtedly will have a profound impact on the understanding and treatment of psychiatric disorders.

Cytokine, sickness behavior, and depression.

R Dantzer — 2007-01-17T09:24:35-00:00

Neurol Clin, Vol. 24, No. 3. (August 2006), pp. 441-460.

Sufficient evidence is now available to accept the concept that the brain recognizes cytokines as molecular signals of sickness. Clarifying the way the brain processes information generated by the innate immune system is accompanied by a progressive elucidation of the cellular and molecular components of the intricate system that mediates cytokine-induced sickness behavior. We are still far, however, from understanding the whole. Among the hundreds of genes that proinflammatory cytokines can induce in their cellular targets, only a handful has been examined functionally. In addition, a dynamic view of the cellular interactions that occur at the brain sites of cytokine production and action is missing, together with a clarification of the mechanisms that favor the transition toward pathology.

Intra-community infanticide and forced copulation in spider monkeys: a multi-site comparison between Cocha Cashu, Peru and Punta Laguna, Mexico.

K Nicole Gibson — 2008-07-24T23:56:03-00:00

American journal of primatology, Vol. 70, No. 5. (6 December 2007), pp. 485-489.

We describe two cases of infanticide, two suspected infanticides, and a forced copulation by familiar resident males in two populations of wild spider monkeys (Ateles belzebuth chamek and A. geoffroyi yucatanensis). These are the first known infanticides and forced copulation in spider monkeys. Data were gathered from four neighboring communities of spider monkeys in Manu National Park at the Cocha Cashu Biological Station, Peru and two communities in the Otoch Ma'ax Yetel Kooh Reserve at Punta Laguna, Mexico, during intensive field studies of over 2,000 hr each. These are rare behaviors, but results suggest that mating history and sexual coercion are important in spider monkey social relationships. Am. J. Primatol. 70:485-489, 2008. (c) 2007 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Raiding parties of male spider monkeys: Insights into human warfare?

Filippo Aureli — 2008-07-24T23:53:48-00:00

American Journal of Physical Anthropology, Vol. 131, No. 4. (2006), pp. 486-497.

Raids into neighboring territories may occur for different reasons, including the increase of foraging and mating opportunities directly or indirectly through the killing of neighboring rivals. Lethal raids have been mainly observed in humans and chimpanzees, with raiding males being reported to search purposefully for neighbors. Here we report on the first cases ever witnessed of raiding parties of male spider monkeys, a species expected to show such a behavioral tendency, given its similarity with humans and chimpanzees in critical socio-ecological characteristics, such as fission-fusion social dynamics and male-male bonding. Despite the high degree of arboreality of spider monkeys, all seven witnessed raids involved the males progressing single file on the ground in unusual silence. This is remarkably similar to the behavior of chimpanzees. The circumstances around the raids suggest that factors such as reduced mating opportunities, number of males relative to that in the neighboring community, and the strength of bonds among males could play a role in the timing of such actions. The raids did not appear to be aimed at finding food, whereas there is some indication that they may directly or indirectly increase reproductive opportunities. Although no killing was observed, we cannot exclude the possibility that spider monkey raids may be aimed at harming rivals if a vulnerable individual were encountered. The similarity of spider monkey raids with those of chimpanzees and humans supports the notion that lethal raiding is a convergent response to similar socio-ecological conditions. Am J Phys Anthropol, 2006. © 2006 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Intragroup lethal aggression in wild spider monkeys.

A Valero — 2008-07-24T23:52:21-00:00

American journal of primatology, Vol. 68, No. 7. (July 2006), pp. 732-737.

We report the first evidence of intragroup coalitionary aggression leading to the death of a wild young adult male spider monkey. During a long-term study of a well-habituated community at the Otoch Ma'ax Yetel Kooh reserve in Yucatan, Mexico, a young adult male sustained severe injuries repeatedly between January and March 2002. On 1 April 2002 the same male was the victim of an intragroup attack by at least one adult male that resulted in his death. We highlight several causes of intragroup aggression that may account for the killing.

Altruism: A Review of Recent Theory and Research

Jane Piliavin — 2007-10-27T18:44:37-00:00

The literature on altruism in social psychology, and to a lesser degree in sociology, economics, political behavior and sociobiology since the early 1980's is reviewed. The authors take the position that in all of these areas, there appears to be a "paradigm shift" away from the earlier position that behavior that appears to be altruistic must, under closer scrutiny, be revealed as reflecting egoistic motives. Rather, theory and data now being advanced are more compatible with the view that true altruism--acting with the goal of benefitting another--does exist and is a part of human nature. Research in social psychology during the 80's had a decreased emphasis on situational determinants of helping. Rather, it has focussed mainly on the following topics: the existence and nature of the altruistic personality, the debate concerning the nature of the motivation underlying helping behavior, and the nature of the process of the development of altruism in children and adults. During this time there has also been considerable theoretical and empirical work on possible biological bases for altruism, and on the evolutionary processes by which these might have developed. Within economics, politics, and sociology, the issues of behavior in social dilemmas, the provision of public goods, private and corporate philanthropy, and voluntarism (including donation of time, money, and physical parts of the self) are discussed.

Fundamental dimensional properties of the operant.

TF GILBERT — 2005-07-24T21:12:27-00:00

Psychol Rev, Vol. 65, No. 5. (September 1958), pp. 272-282.

Stereotypies in caged parrots, schizophrenia and autism: evidence for a common mechanism

Joseph Garner — 2005-04-18T00:23:44-00:00

Behavioural Brain Research, Vol. 145, No. 1-2. (17 October 2003), pp. 125-134.

Spontaneously occurring abnormal behaviors in animals have recently received considerable attention, both in veterinary medicine and as a potential model for abnormal behavior in several human mental disorders. Stereotypies are abnormal repetitive, unvarying, and functionless behaviors that are often performed by captive and domesticated animals housed in barren environments. They closely resemble the stereotypies of autistic and mentally retarded patients, stereotypies of unmedicated chronic schizophrenic patients, certain classes of simple tic in Tourette's syndrome, and several drug-induced behaviors. However, evidence for a common mechanism has been lacking. Stereotypies in human mental disorders are indicative of profound brain dysfunction involving the basal ganglia, and are associated with pervasive voluntary-motor impairments and psychological distress. Here we show that stereotypy in captive Orange-Wing Amazon Parrots (Amazona amazonica) is correlated with poor performance on the same psychiatric task (the 'gambling task') as stereotypy in autistic and schizophrenic patients. The task measures recurrent perseveration--the tendency to inappropriately repeat responses. Thus, the more stereotypy a parrot performed, the more likely it was to inappropriately repeat itself from trial-to-trial on the task; and the more rapidly it made repeated, but not switched, responses. These results parallel the executive motor impairments seen in human patients, and therefore suggest that, like in human patients, stereotypy in caged parrots reflects a general disinhibition of the behavioral control mechanisms of the dorsal basal ganglia. If this result holds true in other laboratory species, stereotypic animals are likely to be of questionable utility in behavior, neuroscience, and neuropharmacological experiments. In humans, stereotypies and obsessive-compulsive behaviors are considered to be mutually exclusive categories of behavior, with different neural substrates, and different treatment strategies. These results, therefore, suggest that the pharmacological treatment of stereotypies in veterinary medicine based on the assumption that they are equivalent to human Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder may be inappropriate. As stereotypies in captive animals develop in response to the captive environment, these results also emphasize the role that the environment may play in eliciting or exacerbating stereotypy in human patients. Finally, by parallel to human patients, there is a potential psychological distress in animals showing these behaviors.

Memory--a century of consolidation.

JL McGaugh — 2006-08-06T07:42:00-00:00

Science, Vol. 287, No. 5451. (14 January 2000), pp. 248-251.

The memory consolidation hypothesis proposed 100 years ago by Müller and Pilzecker continues to guide memory research. The hypothesis that new memories consolidate slowly over time has stimulated studies revealing the hormonal and neural influences regulating memory consolidation, as well as molecular and cellular mechanisms. This review examines the progress made over the century in understanding the time-dependent processes that create our lasting memories.

The endogenous cannabinoid system controls extinction of aversive memories.

G Marsicano — 2006-03-30T14:47:32-00:00

Nature, Vol. 418, No. 6897. (1 August 2002), pp. 530-534.

Acquisition and storage of aversive memories is one of the basic principles of central nervous systems throughout the animal kingdom. In the absence of reinforcement, the resulting behavioural response will gradually diminish to be finally extinct. Despite the importance of extinction, its cellular mechanisms are largely unknown. The cannabinoid receptor 1 (CB1) and endocannabinoids are present in memory-related brain areas and modulate memory. Here we show that the endogenous cannabinoid system has a central function in extinction of aversive memories. CB1-deficient mice showed strongly impaired short-term and long-term extinction in auditory fear-conditioning tests, with unaffected memory acquisition and consolidation. Treatment of wild-type mice with the CB1 antagonist SR141716A mimicked the phenotype of CB1-deficient mice, revealing that CB1 is required at the moment of memory extinction. Consistently, tone presentation during extinction trials resulted in elevated levels of endocannabinoids in the basolateral amygdala complex, a region known to control extinction of aversive memories. In the basolateral amygdala, endocannabinoids and CB1 were crucially involved in long-term depression of GABA (gamma-aminobutyric acid)-mediated inhibitory currents. We propose that endocannabinoids facilitate extinction of aversive memories through their selective inhibitory effects on local inhibitory networks in the amygdala.

Serotonin1A receptor acts during development to establish normal anxiety-like behaviour in the adult.

C Gross — 2006-09-22T08:12:14-00:00

Nature, Vol. 416, No. 6879. (28 March 2002), pp. 396-400.

Serotonin is implicated in mood regulation, and drugs acting via the serotonergic system are effective in treating anxiety and depression. Specifically, agonists of the serotonin1A receptor have anxiolytic properties, and knockout mice lacking this receptor show increased anxiety-like behaviour. Here we use a tissue-specific, conditional rescue strategy to show that expression of the serotonin1A receptor primarily in the hippocampus and cortex, but not in the raphe nuclei, is sufficient to rescue the behavioural phenotype of the knockout mice. Furthermore, using the conditional nature of these transgenic mice, we suggest that receptor expression during the early postnatal period, but not in the adult, is necessary for this behavioural rescue. These findings show that postnatal developmental processes help to establish adult anxiety-like behaviour. In addition, the normal role of the serotonin1A receptor during development may be different from its function when this receptor is activated by therapeutic intervention in adulthood.

Early-life blockade of the 5-HT transporter alters emotional behavior in adult mice.

MS Ansorge — 2006-09-22T08:10:33-00:00

Science, Vol. 306, No. 5697. (29 October 2004), pp. 879-881.

Reduced serotonin transporter (5-HTT) expression is associated with abnormal affective and anxiety-like symptoms in humans and rodents, but the mechanism of this effect is unknown. Transient inhibition of 5-HTT during early development with fluoxetine, a commonly used serotonin selective reuptake inhibitor, produced abnormal emotional behaviors in adult mice. This effect mimicked the behavioral phenotype of mice genetically deficient in 5-HTT expression. These findings indicate a critical role of serotonin in the maturation of brain systems that modulate emotional function in the adult and suggest a developmental mechanism to explain how low-expressing 5-HTT promoter alleles increase vulnerability to psychiatric disorders.

Fear conditioning induces a lasting potentiation of synaptic currents in vitro.

MG McKernan — 2005-10-07T01:13:19-00:00

Nature, Vol. 390, No. 6660. (11 December 1997), pp. 607-611.

The amygdala plays a critical role in the mediation of emotional responses, particularly fear, in both humans and animals. Fear conditioning, a conditioned learning paradigm, has served as a model for emotional learning in animals, and the neuroanatomical circuitry underlying the auditory fear-conditioning paradigm is well characterized. Synaptic transmission in the medial geniculate nucleus (MGN) to lateral nucleus of the amygdala (LA) pathway, a key segment of the auditory fear conditioning circuit, is mediated largely through N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) and non-NMDA (such as alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid (AMPA)) glutamate receptors; the potential for neural plasticity in this pathway is suggested by its capacity to support long-term potentiation (LTP). Here we report a long-lasting increase in the synaptic efficacy of the MGN-LA pathway attributable to fear-conditioning itself, rather than an electrically induced model of learning. Fear-conditioned animals show a presynaptic facilitation of AMPA-receptor-mediated transmission, directly measured in vitro with whole-cell recordings in lateral amygdala neurons. These findings represent one of the first in vitro measures of synaptic plasticity resulting from emotional learning by whole animals.

Infusion of the dopamine D1 receptor antagonist SCH 23390 into the amygdala blocks fear expression in a potentiated startle paradigm.

EW Lamont — 2006-12-30T13:16:55-00:00

Brain Res, Vol. 795, No. 1-2. (8 June 1998), pp. 128-136.

Dopamine (DA) D1 receptors are distributed in the nucleus accumbens and the amygdala, two regions of the mesocorticolimbic DA system known to be activated by aversive environmental stimuli. The objective of the present study was to determine the contribution of D1 receptors in these brain regions to the expression of a fear-motivated behavior, notably, potentiated startle in rats. Injection of the DA D1 receptor antagonist SCH 23390 into the amygdala blocked the ability of a conditioned light stimulus previously paired with footshock to enhance acoustic startle amplitudes. Bilateral intracerebral administration of SCH 23390 into the nucleus accumbens had no effect on fear-potentiated startle. The observed opposing effects of amygdaloid DA D1 receptor antagonism on fear expression, along with earlier research demonstrating the involvement of ventral tegmental area (VTA) DA neurons on fear-potentiated startle, suggest a role for mesoamygdaloid activity in conditioned excitatory fear reactions.

Synapse-specific reconsolidation of distinct fear memories in the lateral amygdala.

Valérie Doyère — 2007-03-15T11:23:53-00:00

Nat Neurosci (11 March 2007)

When reactivated, memories enter a labile, protein synthesis-dependent state, a process referred to as reconsolidation. Here, we show in rats that fear memory retrieval produces a synaptic potentiation in the lateral amygdala that is selective to the reactivated memory, and that disruption of reconsolidation is correlated with a reduction of synaptic potentiation in the lateral amygdala. Thus, both retrieval and reconsolidation alter memories via synaptic plasticity at selectively targeted synapses.

Amygdala BDNF signaling is required for consolidation but not encoding of extinction

Jasmeer Chhatwal — 2006-06-21T03:34:49-00:00

Nature Neuroscience, Vol. 9, No. 7. (18 June 2006), pp. 870-872.

Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) acting through the tyrosine kinase B receptor (TrkB) is thought to be a critical mediator of learning. As there are no available selective antagonists of TrkB, we used a lentivirus encoding a dominant-negative TrkB (TrkB.t1) to antagonize BDNF signaling during extinction of conditioned fear. Whereas TrkB.t1-infected rats showed normal within-session extinction, their retention of extinction was impaired, suggesting that amygdala TrkB activation is required for the consolidation of stable extinction memories.