Equivalence Paradigm Research Articles

Learning and generalization from reward and punishment in opioid addiction

This study adapts a widely-used acquired equivalence paradigm to investigate how opioid-addicted individuals learn from positive and negative feedback, and how they generalize this learning. The opioid-addicted group consisted of 33 participants with a history of heroin dependency currently in a methadone maintenance program; the control group consisted of 32 healthy participants without a history of drug addiction. All participants performed a novel variant of the acquired equivalence task, where they learned to map some stimuli to correct outcomes in order to obtain reward, and to map other stimuli to correct outcomes in order to avoid punishment; some stimuli were implicitly “equivalent” in the sense of being paired with the same outcome. On the initial training phase, both groups performed similarly on learning to obtain reward, but as memory load grew, the control group outperformed the addicted group on learning to avoid punishment. On a subsequent testing phase, the addicted and control groups performed similarly on retention trials involving previously-trained stimulus-outcome pairs, as well as on generalization trials to assess acquired equivalence. Since prior work with acquired equivalence tasks has associated stimulus-outcome learning with the nigrostriatal dopamine system, and generalization with the hippocampal region, the current results are consistent with basal ganglia dysfunction in the opioid-addicted patients. Further, a selective deficit in learning from punishment could contribute to processes by which addicted individuals continue to pursue drug use even at the cost of negative consequences such as loss of income and the opportunity to engage in other life activities.

Changing Racial Bias by Transfer of Functions in Equivalence Classes

Several studies used the stimulus equivalence paradigm to investigate attitudes toward socially relevant stimuli. In one of these studies, de Carvalho and de Rose (The Psychological Record 64: 527–536, 2014) used matching-to-sample (MTS) training to establish equivalence relations between a positive symbol and faces of individuals of African descent (toward which children showed negative bias prior to the research). Only one of four children showed the intended classes. The present study manipulated training parameters to increase the yield of equivalence classes comprising relations contrary to children’s previous racial bias. Thirteen children learned matching tasks that would potentially establish equivalence relations between Black faces and positive symbols, contrary to their preexperimental bias. All 13 children showed equivalence class formation, and nine of them maintained relations between Black faces and positive symbols in a different and more stringent test. Children’s evaluations of the faces with the Self-Assessment Manikin (SAM) showed a pronounced negative bias toward Black faces before training. After class formation, however, the difference between evaluations of Black and White faces was no longer statistically significant. These results showed that procedures based on equivalence and transfer of functions may contribute to educational programs designed to decrease racial biases, a significant challenge for our increasingly multicultural and multiracial societies.

Delayed extinction and stronger drug-primed reinstatement of methamphetamine seeking in rats prenatally exposed to morphine

Prenatal morphine (PM) affects the development of brain reward system and cognitive function. The present study aimed to determine whether PM exposure increases the vulnerability to MA addiction. Pregnant Sprague-Dawley rats were administered saline or morphine during embryonic days 3–20. The acquisition, extinction and reinstatement of methamphetamine (MA) conditioned place preference (CPP) and intravenous self-administration (SA) paradigms were assessed in the male adult offspring. There was no difference in the acquisition and expression of MA CPP between saline- and PM-exposed rats, whereas PM-exposed rats exhibited slower extinction and greater MA priming-induced reinstatement of drug-seeking behavior than controls. Similarly, MA SA under progressive ratio and fixed ratio schedules was not affected by PM exposure, but PM-exposed rats required more extinction sessions to reach the extinction criteria and displayed more severe MA priming-, but not cue-induced, reinstatement. Such alterations in extinction and reinstatement were not present when PM-exposed rats were tested in an equivalent paradigm assessing operant responding for food pellets. Our results demonstrate that PM exposure did not affect the association memory formation during acquisition of MA CPP or SA, but impaired extinction learning and increased MA-primed reinstatement in both tasks. These findings suggest that the offspring of women using morphine or heroin during pregnancy might predict persistent MA seeking during extinction and enhanced propensity to MA relapse although they might not be more susceptible to the reinforcing effect of MA during initiation of drug use.

De espejos y máscaras. Una propuesta para la traducción de los lenguajes «rotos»

This article deals with the challenge posed in the translation into Spanish by the translator’s choice of a certain linguistic model that could cause misunderstandings or awkwardness in some Spanish-speaking areas. The challenge is twofold when the original makes a more or less extensive use of linguistic variation. In such cases “suspension of disbelief” – upon which the reader’s contract is based – calls for imaginative solutions on the part of the translator. Along with general reflections on translation, some examples from the Spanish translation of Xiaolu Guo’s A Concise Chinese-English Dictionary for Lovers and Tom Wolfe’s A Man in Full (two works that rely on an extensive use of distorted language) are offered in order to show how this kind of difficulty can be addressed in literary terms, avoiding the misleading paradigm of fidelity and equivalence. Some reactions to this approach by ordinary readers and professional reviewers are also offered.

Abstract 20116: The Impact of Atrial Fibrillation Type on the Risk of Thromboembolism, Mortality and Bleeding: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

Introduction: Thromboembolic risk stratification schemes and clinical guidelines for atrial fibrillation regard risk as independent of classification into paroxysmal (PAF) and nonparoxysmal atrial fibrillation (NPAF). The aim of the current study was to conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis evaluating the impact of AF type on thromboembolism, bleeding and mortality. Hypothesis: AF type would predict rates of thromebolism, mortality and bleeding. Methods: Pubmed was searched for randomized controlled trials, cohort studies, and case series reporting prospectively collected clinical outcomes stratified by AF type. The incidence of thromboembolism, mortality and bleeding was extracted. Results: AF clinical outcome data was extracted from 12 studies containing 99,996 patients. The pooled unadjusted risk ratio (RR) for thromboembolism in NPAF vs. PAF was RR 1.339 (95% CI: 1.140-1.644, P<0.001). In studies providing estimates of thromboembolism risk adjusted for baseline clinical risk factors, the pooled adjusted hazard ratio (HR) in NPAF vs. PAF was HR 1.384 (95% CI, 1.191-1.608, P<0.001). The pooled unadjusted risk ratio for all-cause mortality in NPAF vs. PAF was RR 1.462 (95% CI: 1.255-1.703 P<0.001). The pooled adjusted HR for all-cause mortality in NPAF vs. PAF was HR 1.217 (95% CI: 1.085-1.365, P<0.001. Rates of bleeding in NPAF and PAF were similar, unadjusted RR 1.00 (95% CI 0.919-1.087, P=0.994), pooled adjusted HR 1.025 (95% CI: 0.898-1.170, P=0.715). Conclusions: These data suggest a need for re-evaluation of the paradigm of thromboembolic risk equivalence between PAF and NPAF, and emphasize AF type as a powerful predictor of AF-related morbidity and mortality. Future studies exploring integration of AF type into thromboembolic risk models are needed.

The Rejuvenation of Equivalence Paradigm in Literary Texts: Equimediation as the Seul et Alleiniges Paradigm in Translation

Currently, conferring a durable and fix definition of “Equivalence” is a drudgery task and activity in Translation Studies (TS). That is owing to the fact that the former demarcations substantiate as unworkable, unexploitable, and inefficient in this area. Equivalence in TS is a cardinal facet which needs to be paid much more heed. To ratify the essence of equivalence in translation, some paradigms vulgarized for their functionality. Paradigms such as Equivalence, Purpose, and Description are the core ones in the intended field. On the flipside, their fame never continue to exist so as to verify the very nature of equivalence. This is due to the fact that these paradigms did not work well on the whole facets of equivalence. The present study seeks to investigate on one fresh paradigm in equivalence known as Equimediation Paradigm (EP). This paradigm is made of five major phases as Strong Equivalents (SE), Weak Equivalents (WE), Brittle Equivalents (BE), Degree of Intensity (DI), and Degree of Occurrence (DO) to show its feasibility and speakability of the concealed rationale behind the literary text. In the circle of translation, translator is treated as a robust mediator in order to interlink the source rationality to the target one. Equimediation paradigm spies out the void and x-areas in TS to substantiate the vital particularities of equivalence in diverse fields. As time elapses, Equimediation Paradigm seeks to peruse Source-Target Reconciliation and Deep-Surface Layer of language so that the translator can meet the needs of the source-target reader as part of the team in this paradigm. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2015.v6n4s2p438

New Horizons in Statistical Decision Theory

The classical metric theory of statistical models (experiments) has recently been extended towards an asymptotic equivalence paradigm, allowing to classify and relate problems which are essentially infinite dimensional and ill-posed. Modern statistical concepts like these are also being integrated into the emerging field of quantum statistics, which is developing on the background of technological breakthroughs in quantum engineering. The workshop brought together leading experts in these areas, with the goal of establishing a common language, and fostering collaborations between mathematical statisticians, theoretical physicists and experimentalists.

Translating for Children: Equivalence Paradigm or Purpose Paradigm? An Explanatory Attempt

Translation of children’s literature has always been a crucial concern for professional and trainee translators. This is due to the alleged vulnerability of its reader in terms of understanding of both developmental factors and the world of childhood. And the central issue in translation for the intended ilk of people is the adult-child duality (Klingberg, 1986, p.10) that sparks the question of what counts as children’s literature. However, in this article we are mainly concerned with children’s literature. Translator as a powerful mediator should consider all facets of translation when dealing with children’s literature as well. Nida (1964, pp.164-71) points out decoding ability is categorized into four subgroups of which the first group belongs to children. To this effect, translator should consider the taste of children in translation with the purpose of fulfilling their needs thoroughly. The present study concentrates on challenging the two prominent paradigms in children’s literature namely (1) equivalence paradigm and (2) purpose paradigm. The former checks equivalence availability in source language and the latter in target one. Equivalence paradigm abides from either natural equivalence or directional one being insufficient for children’s literature. On the other hand, purpose paradigm spots more fully-fledged the taste of purpose and situation of the client (e.g. children) in this vein. More specifically, this study indicates that purpose paradigm is more exhaustive than equivalence paradigm in that it is more achievable throughout the translation of children’s literature. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2014.v5n23p2484

“Dethroning” The Source Text: A “Skopos” Theoretical Perspective in Sesotho Translation

The paper challenges the traditional view that the source text serves as the norm against which the target text is modelled. The aim is to present the skopos theory in the place of the equivalence paradigm. The researcher moves from the premise that the dominant element in Sesotho translation is no longer the source text but the purpose. Taken from that perspective, this work presents an argument that the purpose of the source text does not necessarily have to determine the purpose of the target text. There is even no guarantee that the purpose in one culture will necessarily be the same in another culture. A change of purpose is also construed to suggest a reformulation of the translation. The result of this work is summarised in the view that the target text is the second original text. The paper recommends that prior any translation process, the translator should establish the purpose and be faithful to express it in translation so that ultimately a meaningful, culturally acceptable and purposeful translation can be produced.

Only your eyes tell me what you like: Exploring the liking effect induced by other's gaze

Our preferences are sensitive to social influences. For instance, we like more the objects that are looked-at by others than non-looked-at objects. Here, we explored this liking effect, using a modified paradigm of attention cueing by gaze. First, we investigated if the liking effect induced by gaze relied on motoric representations of the target object by testing if the liking effect could be observed for non-manipulable (alphanumeric characters) as well as for manipulable items (common tools). We found a significant liking effect for the alphanumeric items. Second, we tested if another type of powerful social cue could also induce a liking effect. We used an equivalent paradigm but with pointing hands instead of gaze cues. Pointing hands elicited a robust attention-orienting effect, but they did not induce any significant liking effect. This study extends previous findings and reinforces the view of eye gaze as a special cue in human interactions.

Improving accuracy of portion-size estimations through a stimulus equivalence paradigm.

The prevalence of obesity continues to increase in the United States (Gordon-Larsen, The, & Adair, 2010). Obesity can be attributed, in part, to overconsumption of energy-dense foods. Given that overeating plays a role in the development of obesity, interventions that teach individuals to identify and consume appropriate portion sizes are warranted. Specifically, interventions that teach individuals to estimate portion sizes correctly without the use of aids may be critical to the success of nutrition education programs. The current study evaluated the use of a stimulus equivalence paradigm to teach 9 undergraduate students to estimate portion size accurately. Results suggested that the stimulus equivalence paradigm was effective in teaching participants to make accurate portion size estimations without aids, and improved accuracy was observed in maintenance sessions that were conducted 1 week after training. Furthermore, 5 of 7 participants estimated the target portion size of novel foods during extension sessions. These data extend existing research on teaching accurate portion-size estimations and may be applicable to populations who seek treatment (e.g., overweight or obese children and adults) to teach healthier eating habits.

Understanding Racial Attitudes through the Stimulus Equivalence Paradigm

The present study investigated racial attitudes among children by means of the equivalence class paradigm. Four children that, during a pre-test with a matching-to- sample task associated negative symbols with the faces of black men, participated in the study. During training, the children learned to associate positive symbols with an abstract symbol and then the abstract symbol with pictures of black men. At issue was whether, at the end of training, the positive symbols would be associated with the pictures of black men, reversing the behavioral relations revealed during the pre-test. Results from a post-test showed that only one child reversed the pre-test relations. For the other three children, the pre-test relations persisted during the post-test. These results may express the difficulty of changing the behavioral functions of socially loaded stimuli.

Translation in cross-language international business research: Beyond equivalence

In this paper, we problematise the way translation has been treated in international business (IB) research. We start by conducting an interpretive content analysis of both qualitative and quantitative cross-language studies published in four core IB journals over the course of a decade. Our analysis shows the dominance of a technicist view of translation associated with the equivalence paradigm. In contrast, we advocate a shift to a more contextualised approach informed by theoretical developments in translation studies. More specifically, we focus on two theoretical perspectives – skopos theory and cultural politics – which offer related but distinct approaches to rethinking equivalence. We conclude by advocating that the translation process be reframed as a process of intercultural interaction, rather than a lexical transfer of meaning. This reconceptualisation would, we argue, open up what is currently a “black box” in most IB studies. The contextualised approach that we offer has the potential not just to enrich the findings of studies, but also provide insights that are of multidisciplinary relevance.

Análise da Validade e Precisão de Instrumento de Diferencial Semântico

Este estudo investigou evidencias de validade e precisao de um instrumento de diferencial semântico que tem sido utilizado para medir a transferencia de significados entre estimulos equivalentes. Um total de 196 estudantes universitarios avaliou fotografias de faces expressando emocoes e tambem figuras abstratas, utilizando um instrumento composto por 13 escalas bipolares ancoradas por adjetivos opostos. A analise fatorial dos dados coletados forneceu indicacoes da validade do instrumento e os coeficientes alfa obtidos indicam que os dois fatores extraidos nesta analise possuem niveis de precisao aceitaveis, embora um dos fatores deva ser revisto. Discute-se que o modelo de equivalencia de estimulos, entendido como um modelo experimental de relacoes simbolicas, pode se beneficiar de instrumentos capazes de fornecer medidas validas de transferencia de significado.

Computerized assessment of food preferences in adolescents in the stimulus equivalence paradigm

In Experiment 1, 71 participants were trained to match three pictures of facial expressions (one that expressed happiness and two that expressed emotional neutrality) to three abstract line drawings and match three healthy food names to the abstract line drawings. The participants were then tested to verify equivalence between facial expressions, abstract pictures, and foods. They were required to rate the foods for pleasantness at the beginning and end of the experiment. The experiment had three different experimental groups that differed only in the amount of training. The foods that were equivalent to the happy and neutral female faces received more positive evaluations than the foods that were equivalent to the neutral male face; however, the data presented high variability. In Experiment 2, schematic faces and fi ctitious food names were used in a delayed matching-to-sample procedure. The food that was equivalent to the happy face was evaluated as more pleasant, and the food that was equivalent to the sad face was evaluated as less pleasant.

Neural responses to subliminally presented cannabis and other emotionally evocative cues in cannabis-dependent individuals

Addiction theories posit that drug-related cues maintain and contribute to drug use and relapse. Indeed, our recent study in cocaine-dependent patients demonstrated that subliminally presented cocaine-related stimuli activate reward neurocircuitry without being consciously perceived. Activation of reward neurocircuitry may provoke craving and perhaps prime an individual for subsequent drug-seeking behaviors. Using an equivalent paradigm, we tested whether cannabis cues activate reward neurocircuitry in treatment-seeking, cannabis-dependent individuals and whether activation was associated with relevant behavioral anchors: baseline cannabis craving (drug-seeking behavior) and duration of use (degree of conditioning). Twenty treatment-seeking, cannabis-dependent individuals (12 males) underwent event-related blood oxygen level-dependent functional magnetic resonance imaging during exposure to 33-ms cannabis, sexual, and aversive cues presented in a backward-masking paradigm. Drug use history and cannabis craving were assessed prior to imaging. Participants showed increased activity to backward-masked cannabis cues in regions supporting reward detection and interoception, including the left anterior insula, left ventral striatum/amygdala, and right ventral striatum. Cannabis cue-related activity in the bilateral insula and perigenual anterior cingulate cortex was positively associated with baseline cannabis craving, and cannabis cue-related activity in the medial orbitofrontal cortex was positively correlated with years of cannabis use. Neural responses to backward-masked sexual cues were similar to those observed during cannabis cue exposure, while activation to aversive cues was observed only in the left anterior insula and perigenual anterior cingulate cortex. These data highlight the sensitivity of the brain to subliminal reward signals and support hypotheses promoting a common pathway of appetitive motivation.

Zero-dimensional noise is not suitable for characterizing processing properties of detection mechanisms

Baker and Meese (2012) have recently published an article entitled, ‘‘Zero-dimensional noise: The best mask you never saw.’’ In this article, they describe 0D noise, which basically consists in randomly jittering the contrast of the target stimulus. In a series of experiments, they compared processing properties for a detection task in 0D with 2D noise (i.e., white pixel noise). They found that humans behave more like a noisy ideal observer under 0D than 2D noise. They argued that 0D noise is more suitable for equivalent noise paradigms than pixel noise because 0D noise introduces activity only within the detection mechanisms, whereas 2D noise also affects detection through cross-channel interactions. They propose that ‘‘0D noise offers a cleaner method for assessing the factors limiting human performance’’ (Baker & Meese, 2012, p. 9) within equivalent noise paradigms. Unfortunately, 0D noise is not suitable for characterizing processing properties of detection mechanisms because (a) the processing strategy underlying contrast detection in 0D noise differs from the one in no noise, and (b) detection threshold in 0D noise does not depend on any properties of the detection process. An underlying assumption of equivalent noise paradigms (Pelli, 1981) is that the same processing strategy operates in absence and presence of noise (i.e., the noise-invariant processing assumption, Allard & Cavanagh, 2011, 2012). Thus, if different processing strategies underlie contrast detection in no and 0D noise, then this compromises the application of the equivalent noise paradigms. A hint that the processing strategy differs in no noise and 0D noise is that the typical instructions given by the experimenter to the observer in detection tasks in no noise are not sufficient in 0D noise. For instance, for a contrast detection task in noiseless condition using a 2-interval forced choice paradigm (as used by Baker & Meese, 2012), the instructions can simply be: ‘‘Indicate whether the target was presented in the first or second interval.’’ These simple instructions are not sufficient in 0D noise because the observer usually perceives two stimuli, one in each interval. Consequently, in 0D noise, observers are not performing a ‘‘detection’’ task per se since they are usually detecting the target in both intervals. They are rather discriminating two contrasts while considering a polarity opposite to the target as a negative contrast. An additional indication that a ‘‘detection’’ task in 0D noise is really a discrimination task is that a classical yes-no detection task would be confusing and impractical in 0D noise because the observer almost always perceives a target. Consequently, given that adding 0D noise makes a detection task shift to a discrimination task and that this violates the noise-invariant processing assumption underlying equivalent noise paradigms, we conclude that 0D noise is not suitable for equivalent noise paradigms. Baker and Meese acknowledge that the processing strategy may differ between 0D and 2D noise because 2D noise contains ‘‘activity in the extraneous mechanisms’’ (Baker & Meese, 2012, p. 9), while 0D noise does not. However, they did not address the more relevant question of whether the processing strategy differs or not when the target is embedded in internal noise (i.e., no external noise) and in high (0D) noise. This question is crucial because equivalent noise paradigms implicitly assume that the processing strategy is the same in low and high noise. Given that internal noise is present in all mechanisms, if the processing strategy differs between 0D and 2D noise due to the activity in the extraneous mechanisms, it would also likely differ between no noise and 0D noise. In a recent study, Allard and Cavanagh (2011) have

S06 * ARE METABOTROPIC GLUTAMATE RECEPTORS PROMISING TARGETS FOR ALCOHOL ADDICTION?

S06 * ARE METABOTROPIC GLUTAMATE RECEPTORS PROMISING TARGETS FOR ALCOHOL ADDICTION?

The Metabotropic Glutamate 5 Receptor Modulates Extinction and Reinstatement of Methamphetamine-Seeking in Mice

Methamphetamine (METH) is a highly addictive psychostimulant with no therapeutics registered to assist addicts in discontinuing use. Glutamatergic dysfunction has been implicated in the development and maintenance of addiction. We sought to assess the involvement of the metabotropic glutamate 5 receptor (mGlu5) in behaviours relevant to METH addiction because this receptor has been implicated in the actions of other drugs of abuse, including alcohol, cocaine and opiates. mGlu5 knockout (KO) mice were tested in intravenous self-administration, conditioned place preference and locomotor sensitization. Self-administration of sucrose was used to assess the response of KO mice to a natural reward. Acquisition and maintenance of self-administration, as well as the motivation to self-administer METH was intact in mGlu5 KO mice. Importantly, mGlu5 KO mice required more extinction sessions to extinguish the operant response for METH, and exhibited an enhanced propensity to reinstate operant responding following exposure to drug-associated cues. This phenotype was not present when KO mice were tested in an equivalent paradigm assessing operant responding for sucrose. Development of conditioned place preference and locomotor sensitization were intact in KO mice; however, conditioned hyperactivity to the context previously paired with drug was elevated in KO mice. These data demonstrate a role for mGlu5 in the extinction and reinstatement of METH-seeking, and suggests a role for mGlu5 in regulating contextual salience.

A Function Acquisition Speed Test for Equivalence Relations (FASTER)

The current study employed a stimulus equivalence paradigm to assess the ability of the recently developed Function Acquisition Speed Test (FAST) to measure the existence and strength of experimentally produced derived relations. Twenty-two participants were exposed to a One-to-Many stimulus equivalence training procedure (A1-B1, A1-C1, A2-B2, A2-C2), followed by testing for derived B1-C1 and B2-C2 relations. All participants were then exposed to a FAST procedure in which a simple common operant response was established for pairs of equivalent stimuli (e.g., B1 and C1) in one block of training. In another bock of training, a common response was established for pairs of non-equivalent stimuli (e.g., B1 and C2). Trial numbers required for participants to reach mastery criteria differed across the two FAST blocks, as expected, but only for those participants who had passed the prior equivalence testing phase. This finding suggest that the FAST procedure functions as both a concurrent measure of stimulus equivalence class emergence and a functional-analytic tool that might assess unreinforced and socially sensitive stimulus relations formed in the world outside the laboratory. Large inter- and intra-participant variations in performances across FAST blocks are discussed.