Student Debt Attitudes at Sweet Briar College

This article describes research on student loans done at Sweet Briar College, a small, private women\u27s college in central Virginia. This research was inspired by a model presented by Dennis j Martin, Director of Financial Aid at Washington University in St. Louis. The authors present an example of the kind of cooperative research and analysis that is possible at a small college. Their research, like the loan attitude research conducted on a national population by NASFAA in 1985, and at Washington University by Dennis Martin in 1987, demonstrates a positive attitude toward student loans by alumnae

Social deficits, stereotypy and early emergence of repetitive behavior in the C58/J inbred mouse strain

Mouse lines with behavioral phenotypes relevant to symptoms in neurodevelopmental disorders may provide models to test hypotheses about disease etiology and to evaluate potential treatments. The present studies were designed to confirm and expand earlier work on the intriguing behavioral profile of the C58/J inbred strain, including low social approach and aberrant repetitive movements. Additional tests were selected to reflect aspects of autism, a severe neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by emergence of symptoms early in life, higher prevalence in males, social deficits and abnormal repetitive behavior. Mice from the C57BL/6J inbred strain, which has a similar genetic lineage and physical appearance to C58/J, served as a comparison group. Our results revealed that C58/J mice display elevated activity levels by postnatal day 6, which persist into adulthood. Despite normal olfactory ability, young adult male C58/J mice showed deficits in social approach in the three-chambered choice assay and failed to demonstrate social transmission of food preference. In contrast, female C58/J mice performed similarly to female C57BL/6J mice in both social tests. C58/J mice of both sexes demonstrated abnormal repetitive behaviors, displaying excessive jumping and back flipping in both social and non-social situations. These stereotypies were clearly evident in C58/J pups by postnatal days 20–21, and were also observed in C58/J dams during a test for maternal behavior. Overall, the strain profile for C58/J, including spontaneously developing motor stereotypies emerging early in the developmental trajectory, and social deficits primarily in males, models multiple components of the autism phenotype

Animal models of restricted repetitive behavior in autism

Restricted, repetitive behavior, along with deficits in social reciprocity and communication, is diagnostic of autism. Animal models relevant to this domain generally fall into three classes: repetitive behavior associated with targeted insults to the CNS; repetitive behavior induced by pharmacological agents; and repetitive behavior associated with restricted environments and experience. The extant literature provides potential models of the repetitive behavioral phenotype in autism rather than attempts to model the etiology or pathophysiology of restricted, repetitive behavior, as these are poorly understood. This review focuses on our work with deer mice which exhibit repetitive behaviors associated with environmental restriction. Repetitive behaviors are the most common category of abnormal behavior observed in confined animals and larger, more complex environments substantially reduce the development and expression of such behavior. Studies with this model, including environmental enrichment effects, suggest alterations in cortical-basal ganglia circuitry in the development and expression of repetitive behavior. Considerably more work needs to be done in this area, particularly in modeling the development of aberrant repetitive behavior. As mutant mouse models continue to proliferate, there should be a number of promising genetic models to pursue

Evidence for three subtypes of repetitive behavior in autism that differ in familiality and association with other symptoms

Restricted repetitive behaviors (RRBs) are a core feature of autism and consist of a variety of behaviors, ranging from motor stereotypies to complex circumscribed interests. The objective of the current study was to examine the structure of RRBs in autism using relevant items from the Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised in a sample of 316 individuals with autistic disorder

Exile Vol. XLIX

47th Year Title Page 3 Epigraph by Ezra Pound 5 Table of Contents 7 Contributors\u27 Notes 62-63 Editorial Board 64 ART Hidden by Elizabeth Averbeck \u2704 8 Untitled by Laura Cannon \u2705 10 Untitled by Matt Messmer \u2706 16 Hierve el agua by Emily stenken \u2703 18 A Late One by Sarah R. Smith \u2703 27 Between the Lines by Gregory Holden \u2703 30 Carwash by Gregory Holden \u2703 40 Untitled by Laura Cannon \u2705 42 Flowers in Her Hair by Gregory Holden \u2703 53 Untitled Forrest by Jessica Kramer \u2703 56 POETRY What the Dead Had Grown by Steve Kovach \u2703 9 European Affairs by Ginna Fuselier \u2703 17 Combing the Everglades by Scott Barsotti \u2703 28-29 Persecution by Steve Kovach \u2703 41 A few coins in a styrofoam cup by Miranda Bodfish \u2705 54-55 FICTION Here\u27s to Mary by Katie Mannel \u2705 11-15 The Game of Right by Bradley Prefling \u2703 19-26 The Interview by Nicole Bennett \u2704 31-39 Jet Black Chevrolet by Scott Barsotti \u2703 43-52 Fulfilling Duty by Daniel Kinicki \u2705 57-61 All submissions are reviewed on an anonymous basis, and all editorial decisions are shared equally among the members of the Editorial Board. -64 Cover Art Despair by Gregory Holden \u2703 / Back Cover Art Untitled by Laura Cannon \u2705 -64 Printing by Printing Arts Press -64 Scott Barsotti, Jet Black Chevrolet redacted due to copyright restrictions

Feasibility of exposure response prevention to treat repetitive behaviors of children with autism and an intellectual disability: A brief report

There is a lack of evidence-based behavioral therapies or pharmacotherapies to treat repetitive behaviors found in autism. Effective behavioral therapies are needed to counter any negative consequences these behaviors may have on the child’s early learning and socialization. The purpose of this proof-of-principle study was to test the feasibility of modifying exposure response prevention, an evidence-based strategy for obsessive–compulsive disorder, to treat the repetitive behaviors found in autism. Five school-aged participants (ages 5–11) diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder participated in the study. Our preliminary findings suggest it is feasible, and potentially efficacious, to modify standard exposure response prevention to treat the specific forms of repetitive behaviors found in individuals with autism and comorbid intellectual disabilities. A larger clinical trial is needed to substantiate these preliminary findings

Conditioned Placebo Dose Reduction: A new treatment in ADHD?

This study examined if pairing a placebo with stimulant medication produces a placebo response that allows children with ADHD to be maintained on a lower dose of stimulant medication. Primary aim was to determine the efficacy, side effects and acceptability of a novel conditioned placebo dose reduction (CPDR) procedure

Affective Responses by Adults with Autism Are Reduced to Social Images but Elevated to Images Related to Circumscribed Interests

Individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) demonstrate increased visual attention and elevated brain reward circuitry responses to images related to circumscribed interests (CI), suggesting that a heightened affective response to CI may underlie their disproportionate salience and reward value in ASD. To determine if individuals with ASD differ from typically developing (TD) adults in their subjective emotional experience of CI object images, non-CI object images and social images, 213 TD adults and 56 adults with ASD provided arousal ratings (sensation of being energized varying along a dimension from calm to excited) and valence ratings (emotionality varying along dimension of approach to withdrawal) for a series of 114 images derived from previous research on CI. The groups did not differ on arousal ratings for any image type, but ASD adults provided higher valence ratings than TD adults for CI-related images, and lower valence ratings for social images. Even after co-varying the effects of sex, the ASD group, but not the TD group, gave higher valence ratings to CI images than social images. These findings provide additional evidence that ASD is characterized by a preference for certain categories of non-social objects and a reduced preference for social stimuli, and support the dissemination of this image set for examining aspects of the circumscribed interest phenotype in ASD

Evidence-Based Behavioral Interventions for Repetitive Behaviors in Autism

Restricted and repetitive behaviors (RRBs) are a core symptom of autism spectrum disorders (ASD). There has been an increased research emphasis on repetitive behaviors; however, this research primarily has focused on phenomenology and mechanisms. Thus, the knowledge base on interventions is lagging behind other areas of research. The literature suggests there are evidence-based practices to treat “lower order” RRBs in ASD (e.g., stereotypies); yet, there is a lack of a focused program of intervention research for “higher order” behaviors (e.g., insistence on sameness). This paper will (a) discuss barriers to intervention development for RRBs; (b) review evidence-based interventions to treat RRBs in ASD, with a focus on higher order behaviors; and (c) conclude with recommendations for practice and research