Saint Anselm College

About: Saint Anselm College is a education organization based out in Manchester, New Hampshire, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Politics & Nurse education. The organization has 255 authors who have published 522 publications receiving 7222 citations.

Standard bearers: Qualitative sociologists' experiences with IRB regulation

Abstract: In response to the system for regulating research with human subjects, researchers have raised two apparently contradictory concerns: that IRBs are excessively inconsistent (often raised by biomedical researchers), and that they are excessively standardizing (often raised by qualitative interview researchers). Why does standardization appear as the dominant theme in qualitative researchers’ experiences with their IRBs? And how do qualitative researchers experience standardization in their IRB encounters? We focus on IRBs role as regulatory bureaucracies, which typically rely heavily on standardized communication and decisions to process information and make large numbers of decisions in a timely manner. We explore the role of standardization in IRB regulation of qualitative research in an analysis of semi-structured interviews with 26 qualitative sociologists from six research universities and three liberal arts colleges in the Northeastern United States. In a regulatory regime oriented toward the norms of experimental research, these frictions resulted partly from a lack of appropriate standardized language and decision-templates, but also from the inherent difficulties of applying standardized decisions to work that is unpredictable, unique, and difficult to routinize.

Extinction of the Discriminative Stimulus Effects of Nicotine with a Devalued Reinforcer: Recovery Following Revaluation

Abstract: Extinction and recovery of the discriminative stimulus effects of nicotine (0.3 mg/kg) was investigated with a devalued food reinforcer (rats sated). Sixteen rats were trained in a counterbalanced one manipulandum (nose-poke) drug discrimination procedure with the roles of nicotine and saline counterbalanced as SD and SΔ. Discrimination training was maintained and then extinguished with the devalued reinforcer. Devaluation of the reinforcer diminished SD response rates during discrimination training but not discriminative control. Following delays after extinction, recovery of responding occurred with the revalued but not devalued reinforcer. These data demonstrate that (a) discriminative control by nicotine is temporally stable with a devalued reinforcer following acquisition and extinction, (b) revaluation of the reinforcer promotes recovery of discriminative control, and (c) recovery of interoceptive discriminative control by nicotine following extinction is affected by changes in motivation. Theoretical implications regarding drug replacement therapy and cue-exposure therapy are discussed.

Competency Education Implementation: Examining the Influence of Contextual Forces in Three New Hampshire Secondary Schools:

Abstract: Competency education, a K–12 reform aimed to ensure that all students meet high expectations, requires that students demonstrate mastery of competencies to advance and earn credit, typically through assessments where students apply knowledge. Students receive more time and possibly personalized instruction to demonstrate mastery if needed. Competency education demands changes to traditional practices, including scheduling and grading. This qualitative case study describes how three districts in New Hampshire implemented this reform in secondary schools. Findings reveal that despite over 6 years of progress at each site, the reform had not been fully implemented due to inertial, technical, normative, and political challenges. Changes to grading and assessment were particularly difficult to implement.

Transfer of the discriminative stimulus effects of Δ9-THC and nicotine from one operant response to another in rats

Abstract: Transfer of the discriminative stimulus effects of two drugs from one operant (original-response) to a topographically different response (transfer-response) that was spared drug discrimination training was investigated. Eight rats were trained in a counterbalanced one manipulandum (lever press and nose poke) drug discrimination procedure. Counterbalanced IP administered nicotine (0.3 mg/kg) or Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (3.0 mg/kg) functioned as discriminative stimuli. SD drugs occasioned sessions of food-reinforcement (variable-interval 30-s schedule); SΔ drugs occasioned non-reinforcement. The original-response (lever-pressing or nose-poking) was initially reinforced during 30-min SD drug sessions, and non-reinforced on the other alternating SΔ-drug sessions. Two separate 5-min non-reinforcement tests, counterbalanced by drug order, revealed stimulus control over the original-response by both drugs, which transferred to the transfer-response. Subsequent extinction training of the transfer-response attenuated the original-response response rates with the SD drug conditions but had little impact on discriminative control. Discriminative control was reversed for the transfer-response but had little impact on the original-response but, again, reduced response rate. These data demonstrate that (a) discriminative control by two distinct drug states can transfer and modulate a topographically different free-operant response and, (b) as is true for exteroceptive stimuli, drug states that function as antecedents embedded within the operant three-term contingency have differing relationships with the response and the primary reinforcer.