Search results for " Behavioral"

Chemosensory enrichment as a simple and effective way to improve the welfare of captive lizards

2018

Social Emotional Competence, Learning Outcomes, Emotional and Behavioral Difficulties of Preschool Children: Parent and Teacher Evaluations

2022

This paper addresses the role of social emotional competence in the emotional and behavioral problems and learning outcomes of preschool children based on their parents’ and teachers’ evaluations. In this study, we compared the perceptions of teachers and parents when evaluating the same child using the multi-informant assessment. First, the associations and differences between both the informant evaluations were investigated. Second, the correlation of the social emotional competence and emotional, and behavioral difficulties among preschool children was analyzed, separately addressing their parents’ and teachers’ evaluations. Third, the role of the preschool children’s social emotional co…

Predicting limiting 'free sugar' consumption using an integrated model of health behavior.

2020

Excess intake of ‘free sugars’ is a key predictor of chronic disease, obesity, and dental ill health. Given the importance of determining modifiable predictors of free sugar-related dietary behaviors, we applied the integrated behavior change model to predict free sugar limiting behaviors. The model includes constructs representing ‘reasoned’ or deliberative processes that lead to action (e.g., social cognition constructs, intentions), and constructs representing ‘non-conscious’ or implicit processes (e.g., implicit attitudes, behavioral automaticity) as predictors of behavior. Undergraduate students (N = 205) completed measures of autonomous and controlled motivation, the theory of planned…

Attributional and relational influence of numerals in S’ncamtho metaphors

2020

AbstractYouth varieties in Africa such as S’ncamtho, the Ndebele-based youth variety in Zimbabwe, and urban vernaculars interact with urban and modern experiences which offer them new materials and experiences to base their metaphors on compared to older metaphors in the base languages. This paper explores the use of numeral qualities and associations in the conceptualisation and orthographic representation of S’ncamtho metaphors. S’ncamtho is popular with urban youth and this makes social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, WhatsApp, SMS and Instagram key in the performance of the youth variety, a performance that includes the creation, use and contraction of metaphors. Numerals off…

How partnerships end in guillemots Uria aalge : chance events, adaptive change, or forced divorce?

2007

Divorce in socially monogamous species can result from different mechanisms, for example, chance events, active desertion of the partner, or the intrusion of a third individual ousting the partner. We compared the predictions associated with such mechanisms with data from common guillemots (Uria aalge) breeding on the Isle of May, Scotland. The data cover the years 1982--2005 and show a yearly divorce rate of 10.2%. In most divorces (86%), one of the original partners moved to another breeding site, whereas the other bird stayed and bred with a new partner. On average, movers had a significantly lower breeding success after divorce, stayers were largely unaffected, whereas the incoming bird…

The importance of the social environment for physically active lifestyle — results from an international study

2001

Physically active lifestyles are regularly associated with improved health and quality of life. Differences in lifestyles in society can partly be understood through the differences in the social and physical environment. This study examines the relationships between reported physical activity, and the extent of perceived support for physical activity in the physical and policy environment (e.g. facilities, programmes and other opportunities), and in the social environment. The data for the study come from a cross-cultural health policy study called MAREPS. In total, 3342 adults, 18 years or older, from six countries (Belgium, Finland, Germany, The Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland) were inte…

Unfair play? Video games as exploitative monetized services: An examination of game patents from a consumer protection perspective

2019

Video games as a consumer product have changed significantly with the advent of in-game purchasing systems (e.g., microtransactions, ‘loot boxes’). This review examines consumer protections related to in-game purchasing by anticipating some of the potential design strategies that might contribute to higher risk consumer behavior. Attention was directed towards the analysis of patents for potential in-game purchasing systems, with 13 identified on Google Patents. The design features were analysed in relation to the consumer rights and guarantees described in the terms of use agreements of the patent assignees. The analysis revealed that some in-game purchasing systems could be characterized …

Emotional Self-Regulation Therapy: A New and Efficacious Treatment for Smoking

1997

Abstract We describe emotional self-regulation therapy, a recently-developed suggestion technique for the treatment of smoking, and present data attesting to its efficacy. Of the 38 individuals who completed treatment, 82% (47% of the initial sample) stopped smoking altogether and 13% (8%of the initial sample) reduced their smoking. A follow-up at 6 months showed that 66% (38% of the initial sample) of those who had completed the treatment remained abstinent and reported minimal withdrawal symptoms or weight gain. In a no-treatment comparison group, only 8% reduced their smoking or became abstinent.

The neurobiological bases for the pharmacotherapy of nicotine addiction.

2007

Nicotine, the major psychoactive agent present in tobacco, acts as a potent addictive drug both in humans and laboratory animals, whose locomotor activity is also stimulated. A large body of evidence indicates that the locomotor activation and the reinforcing effects of nicotine may be related to its stimulatory effects on the mesolimbic dopaminergic function. Thus, it is now well established that nicotine can increase in vivo DA outflow in the nucleus accumbens and the corpus striatum. The stimulatory effect of nicotine on DA release most probably results from its ability to excite the neuronal firing rate and to increase the bursting activity of DA neurons in the substantia nigra pars com…

Motor cortical plasticity induced by motor learning through mental practice

2015

Several investigations suggest that actual and mental actions trigger similar neural substrates. Motor learning via physical practice results in long-term potentiation (LTP)-like plasticity processes, namely potentiation of M1 and a temporary occlusion of additional LTP-like plasticity. However, whether this neuroplasticity process contributes to improve motor performance through mental practice remains to be determined. Here, we tested skill learning-dependent changes in primary motor cortex (M1) excitability and plasticity by means of transcranial magnetic stimulation in subjects trained to physically execute or mentally perform a sequence of finger opposition movements. Before and after …