A Cognitive Test Battery to Assess General Intelligence in the Pigeon (Columba livia)

The study of intelligence in humans has been ongoing for over 100 years, including the underlying structure, predictive validity, related cognitive measures, and source of differences. One of the key findings in intelligence research is the uniform positive correlations among cognitive tasks. Factor analysis consistently extracts one factor that can account for approximately half of the variance in performance. This factor is termed g and all cognitive tasks positively load onto this factor. This has been replicated with every cognitive test battery in humans. Nevertheless, many other aspects of intelligence research have revealed contradictory lines of evidence. Recently, cognitive test batteries have been developed for animals to examine similarities to humans in cognitive structure. When mice and some avian species are assessed with cognitive test batteries, performance positively correlates and the first component extracted has similar properties to g. There are some limitations to the species tested thus far, including comparability in the cognitive domains assessed across species and homogeneous samples. The pigeon is an ideal subject to overcome these issues since pigeons, humans, and other primates are frequently given similar tasks. We created a test battery for pigeons that assessed different cognitive domains, including associative learning, short term memory, cognitive flexibility, and reaction time. This test battery was administered to 23 subjects that ranged in age from 6 months to 18 years old. The tasks included were sufficiently sensitive to detect individual differences, while still being reliable measures of performance. Despite the strengths of the test battery, we did not consistently extract a g like factor. Analyses indicated a two-component structure, where the associative learning and reaction time tasks loaded onto component 1, while short term memory and cognitive flexibility tasks loaded onto component 2. While it is impossible to determine what these components represent from the results of these experiments alone, we speculated that these components could reflect reliance on different underlying cognitive abilities, degree of automaticity, and sensitivity to age related decline. Additional research, including administering test batteries to other species, will be necessary to fully understand why pigeons show two-components instead of g

Exotic Animals From A To Z: A Picture Dictionary For Mentally Retarded Junior High and High School Students

The purpose of this animal picture dictionary is to teach and develop in the educably mentally retarded student the skills of alphabetizing, recalling facts, defining terms, finding the main idea and msxingiinferences. Included in the body of this dictionary are fifty illustrations and fifty descriptions. Each illustration is drawn in black India ink with a Hunt-Globe Pointed pen nib using a cross-hatch/line style. Each description is a half page to a page and a half in length. The Lorge Readability Formula was applied to each description in order to insure that the reading material is well within the capabilities of the educably mentally retarded student. The Lorge Readability Formula was chosen for three specific reasons which -are;: it\u27 has,, a reLiability of .88, the\u27 \u27 ease with which it can be applied, and its simplicity. , The formula is:. Find the average sentence length and multiply by .06. Count the number of prepositional phrases per one hundred words and multiply by .10. Then, count the number of words not found in the Dale List of 769 Easy Words and multiply by .10. Ad’d up the figures in steps 1,2 and 5 and add 1,99—the number obtained is- the grade placement 2 of the reading material. The readability range of this dictionary, as measured by the lorge Readability Formula, is between third-grade ninth month and fourth-grade third month. This dictionary is designed and written for the junior high and high school educably mentally retarded student. 3 This student usually has an IQ between 50 and 75, as measured by either the Stanford-Binet or Wechsler intelligence test. His grade level can range from the second to the sixth grade. Likewise, his academic and reading levels may range from the second to the sixth grade level. The learning characteristics of the educably mentally retarded student include: a short attention span; delayed and retarded speech; difficulties in using complex clauses and subject elaboration; inability to transfer from shortterm to long-term memory; inability to use rehearsal strategies(to talk to oneself about the material learned); poor arithmetic reasoning; a need for structure and simplified and concise directions; visual orientation; and finally, a need for a great deal of repetition.

Changes in mipomersen dosing regimen provide similar exposure with improved tolerability in randomized placebo-controlled study of healthy volunteers

Mipomersen, an apolipoprotein B synthesis inhibitor, demonstrated significant reductions in low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, non-high density lipoprotein cholesterol, and apolipoprotein B in 4 phase 3 studies at the FDA-approved subcutaneous dose of 200 mg once weekly. A short-term phase 1 study in healthy volunteers was conducted to evaluate the relative bioavailability, safety, and tolerability of mipomersen in 2 test dose regimens in reference to the 200 mg weekly dose regimen. Eighty-four adults were randomized to 1 of 3 cohorts (30 mg once daily, 70 mg 3 times weekly, or 200 mg once weekly) and then mipomersen or placebo (3:1 ratio) for 3 weeks of treatment. Comparable mipomersen post-distribution phase plasma concentrations were observed across the 3 dose regimens suggesting similar tissue exposure. Injection site reactions were reported, but did not lead to treatment discontinuation. The median incidence of these responses per injection was decreased by lowering the dose. Signals from a diverse panel of systemic inflammation markers were essentially indistinguishable between dose regimens and placebo treatment. The one exception was a modest transient post-dose elevation of C-reactive protein (CRP) in the mipomersen 200 mg weekly group. This elevation was not associated with an increase in other proinflammatory markers. This study demonstrated a similar drug exposure and overall safety profile between the 3 dosing regimens. Exploratory assessment of a diverse panel of biomarkers found no indication of a systemic inflammatory response to mipomersen treatment. These results support assessment of alternative dose regimens in longer-term studies. http://www.clinicaltrials.gov. Unique identifier: NCT0106181