The Behavioral Neuroscientist and Comparative Psychologist Division 6 — American Psychological Association

VOLUME 15 • NUMBER 3 • Winter 2000

In This Issue BUILDING FUTURES Message from the President 1 FOR BEHAVIORAL Apportionnment Ballet Results 2 Science Convention Planning 3 NEUROSCIENCE AND Taste and Eating 4 BNCP PROFILE 8 COMPARATIVE Romeo & Juliet’s Baby 9 PSYCHOLOGY Division 1 Awards 11 Herbert Roitblat, EDITOR’S NOTE: This issue of the newsletter is the first President of Division 6 to carry one of the new features the executive committee has been work- We seem always to be facing a ing on. “BNCP Profiles” will high- constant struggle to justify our existence as light the accomplishments of Division scientists. Better funded and "sexier" topics 6 members in the early stages of such as genome projects and molecular career development and will hopefully biology nibble away at one side and general disinterest from our clinical psychology help us all get to know some of the colleagues gnaws away at the other. It seems to me that the only way that we can most promising younger scientists in survive this constant pressure is by making a better case for ourselves. We need to our discipline. explain to ourselves and to our colleagues why what we do is important. We need to take much more seriously our own advocacy role and we need to better exploit We continue our series of brief opportunities both within our field and via bridges to other fields. general summaries of important research areas with an excellent It is comfortable to sit in our labs and focus on our daily interests, talk with overview of current work in taste and students, and solve the problems that are so obviously important to us. What makes feeding contributed by Tom Scott. our work important to anyone else? How does our work fit into the bigger picture of psychology or the even bigger picture still of science? Here is an exercise to try. Finally, we are fortunate to have Write a letter to your congressional representative and senators explaining why your another short article by Nancy Dess work is important. Why should he or she care about whether your work is sup- from APA. Nancy’s previous contri- ported or not? If you can articulate your work's importance in a way that your butions to the newsletter have been representative can understand, then there is some prospect that you can describe it in very well received and I’m sure you a way that your colleagues and your administration can understand. will find the current topic of interest. There is another, perhaps more compelling reason to write such a letter. As always, if you have any comments Your representative may actually care to hear about important project going on in or suggestions regarding the his or her district. My guess is that your representative has no idea what you are newletter, please pass them along to doing or why it is important. Part of these suggestions comes from Representative me. -fjh Neil Abercrombie (D-Hawaii), who spoke to a science conference held on Maui last year. Continued on page 7

Page 1 Division Officers and Committees 2000-2001 The Behavioral Neuroscientist and Comparative Psychologist is the official newsletter of Division 6 — Behavioral Neuroscience and Comparative Psychology President: Herbert Roitblat — and is published 3 times a year in winter, spring, and fall. Mailing addresses University of Hawaii used are those appearing on the official APA roster and a separate Division roster. [email protected] Corrections and changes of address should be sent directly to the APA Directory President Elect: David C. Riccio Office, 1400 North Uhle St., Arlington, VA 22201, and to Fred Helmstetter (see Kent State University below). [email protected] As the official newsletter of Division 6, BNCP publishes official business, committee reports, news items, job announcements, information on technical Past President: Michael Domjan issues, topics of current interest, and information about the professional activities of University of Texas Division 6 members. News items and articles should be submitted to the Editor at [email protected] the address below (preferably by email). Paid advertisements are not officially endorsed by Division 6. The Editor welcomes comments and suggestions for ways Secretary/Treasurer: James Grau in which BNCP can better serve the needs of the members. The preferred method Texas A&M University of submission is by email. [email protected] Deadline for the receipt of news items and other articles for the next issue is Council Representative: MaryLou Cheal March 15, 2001. Items should be sent to: Arizona State University Fred Helmstetter [email protected] Department of Psychology Members-at-Large PO Box 413 Alan C. Kamil University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee University of Nebraska Milwaukee, WI 53211 [email protected] [email protected] Thomas Zentall University of Kentucky [email protected] Chair of Membership & Growth APPORTIONMENT Committee: Ruth Colwill Bown University BALLET RESULTS [email protected] Chair of Fellows Nomination MaryLou Cheal Committee: Alexandria Logue Division 6 Counsel Delegate Baruch College [email protected] Members of council of the American Psycho- logical Association are elected by the various Chair of Program Committee: divisions and state associations. Each Peter Balsam Columbia University division and association are allotted a specific [email protected] number of delegates based on the number of votes that are obtained from the apportion- Chair of Awards Committee: ment ballots. These ballots are mailed to each APA member and each Duane Rumbaugh member may cast up to 10 votes. Georgia State University In December we asked you to give your votes to Division 6. At this point [email protected] we thank you for doing so. We obtained enough votes so that we maintain Newsletter Editor: our delegate without using a ‘wildcard’. The votes cast for Division 6, Fred J. Helmstetter totalling 1,228, are 0.54% of the total votes. Although this is a small University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee proportion of the total vote it is good for our small division. For instance, [email protected] Division 1 (General) received 0.53% and they have many more members. Division Historian/ Archivist: Again, thank you for giving us your vote. Donald A. Dewsbury University of Florida [email protected]

Page 2 Continued from page 1 REPORT OF THE SCIENCE Just about the only way that Members of Congress know what is going in CONVENTION PLANNING MEETING, science (outside of the big science OCTOBER 28, 2000 projects that receive national press coverage) is when they hear from their constituents. It is their responsibility to by Herb Roitblat make judgments about funding for science and everything else the Federal At the end of October, the APA Science Directorate convened a meeting of Government does, so they need the the Division Presidents of the 15 APA divisions most concerned with the input from their constituents to let them science program of the convention. The purpose of this meeting was to know what is important. Congress also brainstorm ways to make the annual APA convention more useful and more plays a directive role in science fund- accessible to the science members. ing, so your voice can make an impor- Although you might not know it, the APA convention is actually a fabulous tant difference. scientific meeting. Almost all of the talks are invited, and many are sched- Talking to your congressional uled for 50 minutes, so we usually get to hear the best quality talks of any delegation is not pushy. Most of the meeting. The audiences are typically small so the opportunity for discussion members not only need to hear from is high. It is already a first class meeting, but there are ways to make it more you, they want to hear from you. Find accessible. out who is the relevant staff member in Obviously, one of the problems with APA is the expense. Because the your representative's office and get to meeting is so large, there are only a limited number of cities in North know that person. It is absolutely America that can hold it. It usually entails the use of a convention center, critical, however, to make your points which adds further to the expense. Nevertheless, the Science Directorate is in a way that your representative can working to make the convention more affordable. One immediate cost- understand and support. When you do related item is that student first authors of submitted papers can apply to have that your colleagues and your adminis- their registration fee waived. Students can also apply for travel awards to tration will also be able to understand meetings. Increasing the number and visibility of students is an obvious and and support you. important service that we can perform for those who work with us. Another thing that you can do The APA convention competes with a large number of other meetings that to promote our future is to look for may be more tightly focused on your specific interests. Nevertheless, the bridges that can be built to colleagues Convention continues to play an important role, particularly as scientists in in other areas of psychology and to different interest areas attempt to collaborate. It provides an opportunity for other areas of science. For example, members of our Division to display what is important about our work to the there is considerable interest among broader world of psychological science. Many of us are struggling against engineers in using animals as models the “corporate” push of our universities to emphasize programs that bring for the design of artificial systems. money to the institution or train students for specific high-paying careers. These include robots, computational Basic science is threatened with extinction unless we can make the case for systems, and other kinds of engineering our continuing importance. Finding opportunities for collaboration and and modeling. Investigations of how finding ways to convince our colleagues in other areas of the importance of termites build their mounds, for ex- our work is an area where the APA convention can play a big part. ample, has been applied to traffic Other changes suggested at this meeting included providing better informa- engineering. Work on animal learning tion about the content of the convention in time for people to contribute. and memory have been applied to Most of us need to be able to present papers at a meeting in order to receive building robots. Reinforcement studies any funding for it. No effort has been made in the past to plan a preliminary have been applied to economics. Look program with featured speakers already identified and to distribute this for ways that your work could be program before the deadline for paper submissions. As a result, few papers applied to a range of situations. You are ever submitted to the Division for presentation at the meeting. may be surprised at the quality of the reception you receive and the magni- The meeting also suggested that APA needs to make better use of technology tude of the opportunity that results. at the Convention, both in presentations (e.g., including electronic posters) and management of the meeting (e.g., electronic paper submission, as well as Continued on page 7

Page 3 rejection and to the hedonic dimension MSG. The resulting taste quality, TASTE AND of pleasant versus unpleasant sensa- termed Umami, is characteristic of EATING tions. With only rare exceptions, the protein-rich foods. While inherently more pleasant the taste of a chemical rewarding, MSG’s main function is to the more nutritious it is. enhance the flavors of other foods. Thomas R. Scott, San Diego Umami substances are trans- State University Managing the complexities of the chemical relationship between the duced through two mechanisms, one body and the environment requires ionotropic, the other metabotropic. This discussion will focus on Glutamate activates N-methyl-D- the sense of taste and the guiding taste to perform a variety of tasks, ranging from molecular recognition to aspartate (NMDA) ion channels on influence it plays in the process of taste receptors, causing a depolariza- selecting a nutritious diet. the management of hedonics and motivation. tion with increased conductance. Chemical sensors in the mouth Glutamate also activates a are not qualitatively different from metabotropic glutamate receptor, type those elsewhere in the body. The TASTE TRANSDUCTION 4 (mGluR4). The mGluR4 receptor recognition of glucose by taste cells Taste is unique among the sensory inhibits adenylyl cyclase, which would and by beta cells in the pancreas systems in using at least five transduc- otherwise produce the second messen- occurs through similar receptor tion mechanisms, both ionotropic and ger cAMP. The loss of cAMP may mechanisms. Sodium, passing through metabotropic. close cation channels in the cell ion channels on the tongue causes a membrane, resulting in depolarization salty taste, but in the kidney causes with increased membrane resistance. sodium resorption. Both the Umami Sodium Salts: Sodium is transduced taste of monosodium glutamate in the through a direct ionotropic mechanism: Fats: Lipids may be detected both by mouth and the recognition of it moves into the taste receptor cell their taste and texture. glutamate ions throughout the central along its concentration gradient, Triacylglycerols are reduced by nervous system are probably managed carrying with it the positive charge that lingual lipase to mono- and diglycerols by the same receptors. causes depolarization. Passage can be either transcellular, through the apical and free fatty acids, which in turn are What distinguishes taste from membrane of the receptor, or transported to taste receptors. There, receptors elsewhere in the body is not paracellular, through tight junctions they inhibit potassium channels, the mechanisms it uses, but rather that between the receptors to gain access to resulting in depolarization. the recognition occurs before the sodium channels in their basolateral Fats are also identified by their chemical has been swallowed. While membranes. textures. This somatosensory evalua- other senses guide us to food and offer tion may be combined with taste and strong suggestions of its acceptability, with the redolent olfactory compo- and while familiarity and cultural Sweet Chemicals: There may be three nents of these aromatic compounds, all norms provide the promise of safety transduction mechanisms for sweet of which may converge on individual and nutrition, it is the sense of taste stimuli. One involves a simple block- cortical cells to build a perception of that must authorize the irrevocable ade of potassium channels, causing flavor. decision to permit a chemical to enter depolarization of the receptor cell with the body. an increase in membrane resistance. A The fundamental task of the second works through adenylate Acids: The acid molecules in which taste system is to separate nutrients cyclase and cAMP to block potassium protons are incorporated characterize from toxins. The more toxic a chemi- channels. The third mechanism unripe fruit and spoiled food, and so cal, the more assiduously it is rejected operates through the phospholipase C- serve as a warning. Small, mobile by rats and described by humans as inosotol triphosphate (PLC-IP ) system. protons should use a variety of ion IP causes the release of intracellular3 “bitter” or “nauseous.” Those that rats 3 channels and be able to penetrate the accept are called “sweet” or “pleas- calcium which in turn enables the tight junctions between taste cells to ant.” Therefore, the biochemical release of neurotransmitter. gain access to channels along the dimension of nutrition versus toxicity basolateral membrane. However, is directly related to the behavioral Amino Acids: Protein is recognized while many transduction mechanisms dimension of acceptance versus primarily by the salt of glutamic acid, for acids are expected, only one has been established. Protons block

Page 4 be chemosensory at all but to protect the airways from the potassium channels on the taste receptor membrane, holding aspiration of fluids. these cations within the cell, and causing depolarization with increased membrane resistance. NUCLEUS OF THE SOLITARY TRACT (NST) Bitter Chemicals: Bitterness labels toxins, which encompass The three peripheral nerves of taste converge on the a variety of molecular structures and operate through diverse nucleus of the solitary tract in the caudal medulla. Here, a mechanisms to disrupt physiological function. Therefore the basic level of taste discrimination is used to mediate three taste system must build a means of recognizing many processes: the somatic reflexes of acceptance or rejection, chemicals that have the common effect of toxicity. Diverse the autonomic reflexes of digestion, and the modulation of biochemical processes must serve a common physiological feeding behavior according to short-term satiety signals. goal. There are a minimum of 60 receptors and three Basic Discriminations: If gustatory cells in the NST are transduction mechanisms for the recognition of bitter destroyed, the most basic gustatory function—discriminat- chemicals. A family of G-protein coupled receptors, labeled ing tastants from water—is severely compromised. Con- T2R, is thought to be responsible for the detection of toxins. versely, if only the hindbrain remains intact the acceptance When T2Rs are expressed, as they are in about 15% of taste or rejection of chemicals is near normal, suggesting that the receptors, they are expressed in concert. Thus, a taste cell taste qualities that drive those reflexes are being properly may be assigned the broad duty of bitter detection, and be coded. equipped with the full repertoire of receptor proteins and mechanisms to fulfill that obligation. The result is a unifor- mity of bitter perception despite the diversity of molecules Somatic Reflexes: The orofacial reflexes that control the that elicit it. acceptance or rejection of a chemical are driven by hind- brain neurons which are, in turn, influenced by the activity Once the bitter molecule has been bound, either of of cells in the ventral portion of gustatory NST, permitting two transduction mechanisms may be activated. First, the the analysis of taste quality that occurs here to guide the amplified receptor signal activates phosphodiesterase (PDE) initial gross reaction to a tastant. to reduce cAMP levels. The loss of cAMP could block the normal emigration of cations, trapping them to depolarize the cell, or it could disinhibit calcium channels otherwise Autonomic Reflexes: A second projection from gustatory held closed by cAMP. Secondly, the receptor potential, NST influences the parasympathetic reflexes of digestion. amplified by the associated G-protein, activates PLC pro- Combined with the control of somatic reflexes above, taste ducing the enzyme IP . This serves as the second messenger cells in the NST can influence motor neurons that control 3 that promotes the release of calcium from intracellular stores chewing, tongue movements, swallowing, salivation, gastric to mediate cell depolarization. motility, and digestion, i.e., the fundamental processes of acquiring and processing nutrients. PERIPHERAL TASTE NERVES Taste is served by three cranial nerves, the facial, Satiety: The reflexes governed by NST are subject to glossopharyngeal, and vagus. It is hypothesized that each alteration by short-term satiety signals. When blood sugar plays a distinct role in the control of feeding. levels are raised, or a gastric load infused into a decerebrate In rodents, sweet sensitivity is greatest at the rat, acceptance reflexes turn to rejection, as they do in the nasoincisor ducts, which are served by one component of the intact animal. Thus the NST may be sensitive to the facial nerve. Sensitivity to sodium is greatest on the anterior immediate physical and chemical effects of a meal, and use tongue which is served by the second component of the this information to limit meal size. facial nerve, the chorda tympani. If this nerve is cut, rats cannot discriminate between salty and bitter salts. PARABRACHIAL NUCLEUS (PBN) While taste discriminations appear to be a function Taste fibers in rodents make an obligatory synapse of facial nerve activity, the glossopharyngeal nerve may in the medial PBN while visceral afferents terminate more mediate a protective function, for the rejection reflexes laterally. The two inputs then converge onto single cells, described below depend on its integrity. The role of the implying that the PBN may mediate interactions between vagus nerve, which serves the larynx and pharynx may not gustatory and visceral events. Indeed, the integrity of the

Page 5 associated with physiological condition. PBN is necessary for the normal generated by the same stimulus pairs acquisition of conditioned taste VPMpc-lesioned rats do not show anticipatory contrast, i.e. reduced in the macaque IO. Thus, the neural aversions and for the expression of representation of taste quality in the sodium appetite. consumption of a mildly preferred stimulus in anticipation of one that is macaque IO accurately reflects highly preferred. After several training gustatory perception in humans. Conditioned Taste Aversion (CTA): A sessions, intact rats reduce their con- A further observation is that CTA is created when a novel taste is sumption of a weak saccharin solution about 40% of the taste neurons in IO paired with gastrointestinal distress. in anticipation of the strong glucose are sensitive to sugars, while another The PBN is critical to this special form offered next. Lesioned animals do not 35% are most responsive to sodium of conditioning. Lesions here block learn this anticipatory response despite salts. Only 20% respond best to bitter the aversion, not due to a loss of either repeated trials. Losing only the capac- stimuli, and 5% best to acids. There- taste or visceral sensitivity, but rather ity for anticipatory contrast with fore, some 75% of the neural re- to the inability to form an association thalamic lesions is that VPMpc is sources in primary taste cortex are between them. concerned not so much with the devoted to stimuli that humans consumatory aspects of taste-related describe as sweet or salty, i.e. the behavior as with the gustatory memo- primary components of the world’s Sodium Appetite: Lesions of PBN ries that guide the search for food. cuisines. The remaining quarter are block the expression of sodium appe- reserved to guard against the ingestion tite in rats. It has also been shown that of toxins. sodium deprivation results in reduced PRIMARY TASTE CORTEX (IO) sensitivity to sodium salts, just as it Gustatory cortex is in the does in the NTS and chorda tympani anterior insula and frontal operculum SECONDARY TASTE CORTEX nerve. The nature of the involvement (IO). Only 6% of the cells tested in IO (OFC) of PBN in the manifestation in sodium respond to taste stimuli. Another 30% Neurons in IO project anteri- appetite is unknown. respond to some subset of jaw move- orly to the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC). ments, oral tactile stimulation, tongue Taste fibers terminate between THALAMIC TASTE AREA protrusion, and to the sight of the taste olfactory afferents that lie just medial, (VPMpc) stimulus the monkey is about to receive. and visual input immediately lateral. The remaining 64% remain undefined. All three modalities then converge on Projections from the PBN go A series of anatomical, electrophysi- neurons yet more medial, presumably to the ventroposteromedial nucleus ological, brain imaging, and clinical to develop an integrated perception of (VPMpc) of the thalamus. Taste cells studies have been performed in IO and flavor. in this small, densely-packed nucleus have reported results that imply a The OFC is the first level of are responsive not only to a full range broader role for this area. IO receives of sapid stimuli but often to their the primate’s taste system where taste gustatory, somatosensory, viscerosen- and feeding clearly interact. OFC thermal and textural qualities, imply- sory and perhaps other sensory inputs ing the early stages of sensory integra- cells that respond to the taste of through whose integration it may glucose when the macaque is hungry tion that might ultimately lead to a full provide a broad-based evaluation of a appreciation of flavor. show progressively reduced activity chemical. Its neurons project to regions as the monkey is fed with glucose, The assumed importance of that guide both somatic and visceral and become unresponsive as full VPMpc was apparently confirmed in reflexes that are associated with taste satiety is achieved. This implies a experiments where thalamic lesions and eating. Thus, IO has the compo- clear strategic reversal in gustation, caused a major disruption of taste- nents to transcend taste and to assume from a cognitive assessment of the directed behavior. However, when the larger identity of ingestive cortex. quality and intensity of a chemical in these studies, whose lesions were often The role of IO gustatory cells is IO to an assessment of its reward misdirected, over-sized, or destructive to represent taste quality and intensity value in OFC. This corresponds to of fibers of passage, were superseded with greater precision than at any other the finding that cognitive and hedonic by those using discrete, electrophysi- level in the taste system. Human assessments are separable in human ologically-guided lesions, the behavior reports of the degree of similarity reports, where the perceived intensity was found to be restored. The only between pairs of taste stimuli conform and quality of the stimulus is main- remaining deficit was in tasks that closely with the level of correlation tained even as the pleasure derived required a gustatory memory not between patterns of neural activity

Page 6 from it is reduced with repeated exposure. SUMMARY AMYGDALA Across nine synaptic levels of the taste system, Both IO and OFC project to the central nucleus of the there is a progression from recognition to analysis to amygdala, which also receives visceral afferent fibers. Neural integration. Recognition occurs at the receptor level. representation in the macaque amygdala offers only an Early analyses in the medulla (NST) drive reflexes for inadequate representation to account for the discriminative acceptance or rejection as a first-order behavioral capacity of human gustation. Neural intensity-response reaction to chemicals. Cells in the pons (PBN) have functions are not steep enough to account for human psycho- the capacity for associative learning of gustatory- physical functions, and the basic taste stimuli are not distinctly visceral interactions as conditioned aversions or separated from one another. Glucose stands apart most preferences, and also mediate the expression of sodium clearly, NaCl is less distinct, and HCl and QHCl are not appetite. The thalamic taste relay (VPMpc) may serve separable. gustatory memories that do not derive from taste-gut Given the gustatory-visceral interactions, and the interactions. established role of the amygdala in guiding ingestive behav- Taste quality and intensity are most accurately ior, taste responses here should be modified by feeding the represented in the primary taste cortex (IO). Beyond macaque to satiety. This was the case, though the degree of this level the major theme is integration, both between suppression was less than that seen in the OFC. Taste-evoked taste and other sensory modalities, and with central responses in the amygdala were reported to be reduced by motivational states. In secondary taste cortex (OFC) some 58% as the macaque passed from hunger to satiety. taste input converges with that from olfaction and vision, and is also subject to modification by the HYPOTHALAMUS macaque’s level of satiety. These properties are extended to taste-responsive neurons in the amygdala The OFC and amygdala both project to the lateral and hypothalamus. Therefore, what begins of an hypothalamic area. Here, palatable stimuli tend to arouse analysis of molecular structure at the receptor level excitatory responses while aversive chemicals cause inhibi- becomes an assessment of flavor and serves to activate tion. As in the OFC, inducing total satiety in a macaque motivational systems that serve the selection and causes a severe depression of gustatory responses to the consumption of foods. satiating stimulus.

Continued from page 3

electronic call for programs, and an online searchable program database). Many of these changes are apparently in the works for the 2002 convention. Finally, the meeting suggested steps to be taken to DIVISION improve the social milieu for convention attendees. These included offering mentoring opportunities for students and new members, combined bar/coffee 6 service at poster sessions, organizing meeting places where members of the division can find other AMERICAN members for conversation and ad hoc lunch arrange- PSYPSYPSYCHOLCHOLCHOLOGICALOGICALOGICAL ments, and social hours where awards, for example, ASSOCIATIONTIONTION can be combined with convivial conversation. If you have further suggestions for making the annual convention more accessible, interesting, or useful, please communicate them to me ([email protected]) or to the APA science direc- torate.

Page 7 BNCP PROFILE: THERESA A. JONES

Assistant Professor

Psychology Department

University of Washington

Training: Postdoctoral Fellow, Beckman Institute, University of Illinois, 1993-1996 Ph.D. Psychology, University of Texas at Austin, 1992 B.A., Psychology, University of Texas at Austin, 1987 Honors and Awards: NIMH FIRST Award, 1997-2002 NIMH BSTART Award, 1996-1997 NRSA Postdoctoral Fellowship, 1993-1996 Donald B. Lindsley Award in Behavioral Neuroscience 1993 University Fellowship, University of Texas 1991-1992 NIH Neurobiology Training Fellowship 1988-1991 Research Interests: The primary focus of Jones’ work is on brain plasticity across the lifespan associated with learning and with the restructuring of neural connections after brain damage. Her work is guided by the belief and growing evidence that the brain bases of learning and memory and of behavioral adaptation to brain damage are heavily interactive. Animals that survive brain damage are likely to undergo particularly robust changes in behavioral experiences relative to intact counter- parts. Perhaps the most reliable behavioral consequence of brain damage is that animals develop behavioral strategies, or “tricks”, to accomplish tasks in the presence of a lost function. It is likely that these behavioral changes influence and interact with CNS responses to injury. Thus, an understanding of the brain’s normal adaptation to injury is severely limited in the absence of an understanding of how this adaptation interacts with post-injury changes in behavioral experi- ences. In experiments with adult rats that have unilateral damage to the motor cortex, Jones has found evidence of significant alterations in neural connections in regions remote from, but connected to, the site of injury. In the “intact” motor cortex opposite the lesion, neural and glial changes appear to result from an interaction between the animals’ behav- ioral changes and cellular changes triggered by lesion-induced denervation. The motor cortex of the intact hemisphere undergoes time-dependent increases in neurotropic factors, growth of dendritic processes, increases in synapses and ultrastructural changes characteristic of enhanced synaptic efficacy. These changes are partially dependent on behavioral changes that the rats spontaneously develop to compensate for their impairments. Additional changes can be induced using rehabilitative training on motor learning tasks after the damage. Similar behavioral manipulations in intact animals, however, fail to result in the same magnitude and/or rapidity of neuronal and astroctyic changes. These and related findings suggest that brain damage may make some brain regions especially sensitive to behav- ioral changes. Mild degenerative pressures, which are likely to be widespread in regions connected to a discrete brain injury, appear to be capable of facilitating the neuronal response to learning, e.g., by enhancing neuronal restructuring and associated astrocytic changes. These events would be expected to make a brain region particularly sensitive to learning- induced change. This raises the possibility of capitilizing on this sensitivity, using behavioral manipulations as therapy, to optimize recovery of function after brain damage.

Page 8 dependency inherent to gene ROMEO AND function. To save the world from JULIET’S BABY: genetic determinism and some of its more repugnant sociopolitical CRAFTING A NEW baggage, postmodern psycholo- gists like Slife and Williams BEGINNING TO THE (1995) implore us to examine GENE/ anew the assumption that humans are “natural objects,” and popular ENVIRONMENT writers brand evolutionary psy- STORY chologists pinheaded adaptationalists: Nancy K. Dess, PhD, APA Senior by themselves, can do nothing to “The evolutionary psycholo- Scientist produce behavior; all derives from gists (evo psychos, writer gene x environment interactions at Natalie Angier calls them) A heyday dawns for compara- various levels of complexity. As state that all human behavior tive and physiological research on Lykken put it in The Antisocial must perforce have evolved as behavior. Thanks to breakthroughs Personalities, “Without environ- elements of a strategy to get such as knockouts and The Human mental inputs, your genome would laid — if our genes don’t Genome Project (HGP), everyone have created nothing more than a promote behaviors that further from the general public to funding damp spot on the carpet” (p. 85, their reproduction, goes the agencies is placing tremendous faith 1995). Yet the dichotomy is alive circular logic, they get re- and resources in genetics research to and kicking, inside and out of placed by other genes.” solve problems. The Decade of academe. (Arthur Allen, 2000, on Behavior initiative, officially salon.com; emphasis added). Elaborated, the dichotomy launched this fall, will educate the goes to free will, morality, and This caricature persists public about the practical value of what it means to be human; in despite even introductory text- behavioral sciences and raise coop- rawest form, it pits genetic deter- books explaining that evolution eration among those disciplines to minism against radical social yields by-products, vestiges, and new heights. There is even promising constructivism. Champions of drift, not just adaptations. For news on the creationism front: The determinism within psychology one thing, it makes an easier exit of three conservative Kansas expound, for example, genetically target than does a conceptually Board of Education members has set based racial group hierarchies of messy “human nature” that is the stage for a reversal of the Board’s genitals, brain size, and g. This, constrained by the legacy of deep decision to remove “origins” from despite bedfellows as unlikely as time (gasp – essentialism!), can state science standards, and cable HGP chief Francis Collins and be expressed as wild phenotypic television shows foster the public’s cultural anthropologists declaring variation, and compels construc- sense of being one animal species obsolete a categorical genetic view tion – physical, psychological, among many. This syzygy of scien- of race. Less dramatically, a well- social – of the very niche that tific progress, elevated public con- known psychologist recently shapes us. For another, a narcis- sciousness, and favorable policy expressed surprise at my statement sistic focus on things that set developments1 bodes well for our ilk. that genes do not determine behav- humans apart from other crea- Aye, the Rub ior; she “heard” me saying that tures – discourse, hypertrophied In terms of contemporary genes are unrelated to behavior, metacognition, and formal insti- science, is the nature/nurture di- rather than distinguishing between tutions of power – is an easier sell chotomy a red herring? Sure. Genes, “determination” and the context- Continued on page 10

Page 9 Continued from page 9 to most people than is attention either to our animalness or to other animals. (Q: What did the human say to the jellyfish? A: “Enough about me. What do you think of me?” Nod to Daniel Quinn.) What To Do? Dismissal of stark views or a few declarative statements obviously will not lay the dichotomy to rest. The cognitive, affective, and political barriers to gene/environment (g/e) interactionist thinking are too robust. Here are a couple of ideas that may get strategic juices flowing: Chat, eat, press flesh: Maybe your academic haunt is filled with colleagues that embrace, or at least really understand, g/e interactionism. There are such places. However, I submit that it is risky to assume that you and your colleagues down the hall are like-minded or similarly aware of contemporary thinking on the matter. Opening dialogs in a brown bag reading group (try Goldsmith’s The Biological Roots of Human Nature) or an afternoon intra- or interdepartmental speaker before cheese and crackers could pay off – not always easy or pleasant, but that’s what the food and handshakes are for. Teaching smart: If you’ve taught statistics, you know students struggle to grasp the independence of interactions from main effects. Add to that relevant attributional dichotomies (dispositional/situational, etc.), and the challenge grows. We should redouble efforts to explain g/e interactionism using diverse, clear ex- amples – e.g., discordance of identical twins for schizophrenia, the 1999 Crabbe et al. Science article showing different behavior of inbred mouse strains in different labs, and Maccoby’s cogent treatment of gender (Moni- tor, Oct 2000). I also propose that we hold off teaching about heritability until a stable g/e interactionism scaffold has been erected; though not incompatible with g/e interactionism, it is formally an additive g/e di- chotomy and is likely to reinforce nature-versus-nurture thinking about behavioral mechanisms. In my experi- ence, even terrific explanations of heritability go right over the heads of “Intro” students who don’t yet under- stand “variance.” “Two households, both alike in dignity…”2 Romeo and Juliet were soul mates doomed by social circumstances. What if Madre and Padre Montague and Capulet became grandparents instead? The baby would have derived from but not been deter- mined by the lovers, would have been rooted in the past but not of it. It may have catalyzed reconciliation between the clans and fostered a new social order. Ahh. I do truly love Shakespeare’s tragedy, but I am hoping for a happier ending to the story of Genes and Environment in psychology’s Verona. 1 Continuing threats from anti-lab animal groups were the subject of a prior item and a piece in the Nov/ Dec issue of Psychological Science Agenda. 2 Opening line of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet

BNCP back issues are now available online at http://www.apa.org/divisions/div6/newsletter.html

Page 10 ANNOUNCEMENT: AWARD WINNERS OF THE SOCIETY FOR GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY FOR YEAR 2001 AND CALL FOR NOMINATIONS FOR AWARDS OF YEAR 2002

The Society for General Psychology, Division One of the American Psychological Association, announces its Year 2001 award winners who have been recognized for outstanding achievements in General Psychology. This year the winner of the William James Book Award is Michael Tomasello for his book The Cultural Origins of Human Cogni- tion, which was published in 1991 by Harvard University Press. This award is for a recent book that serves to integrate material across psychological subfields or to provide coherence to the diverse subject matter of psychology The Year-2001 winner of the Ernest R. Hilgard Award for a Career Contribution to General Psychology is Murray Sidman. And the winners of the George A. Miller Award for an Outstanding Recent Article in General Psychol- ogy are Jack Martin and Jeff Sugarman of Simon Fraser University for their article “Psychology’s Reality Debate: A ‘Levels of Reality’ Approach’” which apeared in the Journal of Theoretical and Philosophical Psychology in 1999 (pp. 177-194).. In each case the awardees receive a certificate and a cash prize: $500 for the Hilgard and Miller awards, and $1000 for the William James Book Award. The winner of the competition to deliver the Year-2001 Arthur W. Staats Lecture for Unifying Psychology who will receive an award of $1000 will be determined and announced later.. For all of these awards, the focus is on the quality of the contribution and the linkages made between the diverse fields of psychological theory and research. The Society for General Psychology encourages the integration of knowl- edge across the subfields of psychology and the incorporation of contributions from other disciplines. The Society is looking for creative synthesis, the building of novel conceptual approaches, and a reach for new, integrated wholes. A match between the goals of the Society and the nominated work or person will be an important evaluation criterion. The Staats Award has a unification theme, recognizing significant contributions of any kind that go beyond mere efforts at coherence and serve to develop psychology as a unified science. The Staats Lecture will deal with how the awardee’s work serves to unify psychology. There are no restrictions on nominees, and self-nominations as well as nominations by others are encouraged for these awards. For the Hilgard Award and the Staats Award, nominators are asked to submit the candidate’s name and vitae along with a detailed statement indicating why the nominee is a worthy candidate for the award and supporting letters from others who endorse the nomination. For the Miller Award, nominations should include: vitae of the author(s), four copies of the article being considered (which can be of any length but must be in print and have a post-1995 publication date), and a statement detailing the strength of the candidate article as an outstanding contribution to General Psychology. Nominations for the William James Award should include three copies of the book (dated post-1995 and available in print); the vitae of the author(s) and a one-page statement that explains the strengths of the submission as an integrative work and how it meets criteria established by the Society. Text books, analytic reviews, biographies, and examples of applications are generally discouraged. Winners will be announced at the Fall convention of the American Psychological Association the year of submis- sion. Winners will be expected to give an invited address at the subsequent APA convention and also to provide a copy of the award address for inclusion in the newsletter of the Society. All nominations and supporting materials for each award must be received on or before April 15, 2001. Nominations and materials for all awards and requests for further information should be directed to General Psychology Awards, c/o C. Alan Boneau, Department of Psychology, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, 22030. Phone: 301-320-3695; Fax: 301- 320-2845; E-mail: [email protected].

Page 11 DIVISION 6 EMAIL REFLECTOR

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