Association between Socio-Demographic Factors and Owners’ Beliefs and Attitudes to Pet Cats Fundamental Dietary and Physical Exercise Needs, in City of Belfast

A cross-sectional survey questionnaire was developed in-house to investigate pet cat owners’ beliefs and attitudes related to the fundamental care of their pet cats. The questionnaire consisted of questions which were grouped into the following sections: (i) owners’ socio-demographics; (ii) cat(s) body weight and body condition monitoring; (iii) owners’ attitudes to cats’ dietary preferences, needs and satisfaction, (iv) owners’ perceptions of their cats’ physical exercise needs and satisfaction. The sample size of 376 was estimated to be required to represent the population of the given geographical location (Belfast, NI, UK). Hard copies of the questionnaires were distributed in January and February 2019 and in total 402 completed questionnaires were collected; questionnaires which included >20% of missing or incomprehensible responses were excluded from the database, resulting in 398 questionnaires being included in the final database. The study identified a number of socio-demographic factors associated with owners’ beliefs and attitudes that directly affect care provided to pet cats, e.g., the owner’s occupation has been identified as a factor associated with owner perception of certain cats’ behaviours, e.g., a cat brushing against the owner as food requests by their animal (Chi-Square 7.711 (df1), exact p = 0.006). Furthermore, most female respondents, aged 26–67 years and in an occupation not related to animals, reported selecting cat food based on their animal preferences (Chi-Square 10.332 (df1), exact p = 0.003). In contrast, female owners in animal and veterinary occupations were significantly more likely as compared to other respondents (Chi-Square 15.228 (df1), exact p < 0.001), to select cat food based on its perceived health benefit to the cat. Analysis of the respondents’ opinions of cats’ abilities to self-regulate physical activity showed that owners age was the main differentiating determinant, i.e., cat owners over 25 years old were significantly more likely than younger adults to believe that pet cats can regulate their own physical activity to keep healthy (Chi-Square 6.313 (df1), exact p = 0.025). Furthermore, respondents’ opinions of their cat’s ability to self-regulate feed intake were mainly associated with owner’s education level (Chi-Square 6.367 (df1), exact p = 0.036). The study results indicated that the attitude and beliefs behind the fundamental care practices provided to pet cats depends on particular demographic factors, especially owners’ education and occupation

Non-Verbal IQ gains from relational operant training explain variance in educational attainment: An active-controlled feasibility study

Research suggests that training relational operant patterns of behavior can lead to increases in general cognitive ability and educational outcomes. Most studies to date have been under powered and included proxy measures of educational attainment. We attempted to extend previous findings with increased experimental control in younger children (aged 6.9-10.1 yrs.). Participants (N = 49) were assigned to either a relational training or chess control group. Over five months, teachers assigned class-time to complete either relational training or play chess. Those who were assigned relational training gained 8.9 Non-Verbal IQ (NVIQ) points, while those in the control condition recorded no gains (dppc2 = .99). Regression analyses revealed that post-training NVIQ predicted reading test scores (conducted approximately one month later) over and above baseline NVIQ in the experimental condition only, consistent with what we might expect in a full test of far transfer towards educational outcomes

Technical Notation as a Tool for Basic Research in Relational Frame Theory

The final publication is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/[insert DOI]”A core overarching aim of Relational Frame Theory (RFT) research on language and cognition is the prediction and influence of human behavior with precision, scope, and depth. However, the conceptualization and delineation of empirical investigations of higher-order language and cognition from a relational framing theoretical standpoint is a challenging task that requires a high degree of abstract reasoning and creativity. To that end, we propose using symbolic notation as seen in early RFT experimental literature as a possible functional-analytical tool to aid in the articulation of hypotheses and design of such experiments. In this article, we provide examples of aspects of cognition previously identified in RFT literature and how they can be articulated rather more concisely using technical notation than in-text illustration. We then provide a brief demonstration of the utility of notation by offering examples of several novel experiments and hypotheses in notation format. In two tables, we provide a “key” for understanding the technical notation written herein, which other basic-science researchers may decide to draw on in future. To conclude, this article is intended to be a useful resource to those who wish to carry out basic RFT research on complex language and cognition with greater technical clarity, precision, and broad scope

A systematic review of physiological reactivity to stimuli in autism

Objective: The prevalence of abnormal behavioural responses to a variety of stimuli among individuals with autism has led researchers to examine whether physiological reactivity is typical in this population. The current paper reviewed studies assessing physiological reactivity to sensory, social and emotional, and stressor stimuli in individuals with autism. Methods: Systematic searches of electronic databases identified 57 studies that met our inclusion criteria. A novel measure of methodological quality suitable for use with non-randomised, non-interventional, psychophysiological studies was also developed and applied. Results: Individuals with autism were found to respond differently than typically developing controls in 78.6%, 66.7%, and 71.4% of sensory, social and emotional, and stressor stimulus classes, respectively. Conclusions: Individual differences in physiological reactivity are clearly present in autism, suggesting additional research is needed to determine the variables relating to physiological reactivity among those with ASD and to examine the possibility of physiological subtype responders in this population

Proceedings of Patient Reported Outcome Measure’s (PROMs) Conference Oxford 2017: Advances in Patient Reported Outcomes Research

A33-Effects of Out-of-Pocket (OOP) Payments and Financial Distress on Quality of Life (QoL) of People with Parkinson’s (PwP) and their Carer

Testing and developing procedures for assessing and training hierarchical classification skills in young children using relational frame theory

The current thesis aimed to conceptualise, assess and train features of hierarchical classification from a behaviour analytic, or more specifically a Relational Frame Theory (RFT), perspective. Classification refers to grouping stimuli according to shared physical or functional characteristics (Barnes-Holmes, Dymond, & O’Hora, 2001). Hierarchical classification is a more complex form of classification, whereby classes themselves are classified as members of other classes. For example, a “budgie” is a member of the class of “bird”, and the class of “bird” is a member of the class of “animal”. Classification can be conceptualised as involving particular types of framing. RFT sees containment (A is in B; B contains A) and hierarchical (A is a type of B; B is a class containing A) relational responding as core repertoires for categorisation. As such, RFT regards both containment and hierarchical relational responding as core repertoires for categorisation

Testing and developing procedures for assessing and training hierarchical classification skills in young children using relational frame theory

The current thesis aimed to conceptualise, assess and train features of hierarchical classification from a behaviour analytic, or more specifically a Relational Frame Theory (RFT), perspective. Classification refers to grouping stimuli according to shared physical or functional characteristics (Barnes-Holmes, Dymond, & O’Hora, 2001). Hierarchical classification is a more complex form of classification, whereby classes themselves are classified as members of other classes. For example, a “budgie” is a member of the class of “bird”, and the class of “bird” is a member of the class of “animal”. Classification can be conceptualised as involving particular types of framing. RFT sees containment (A is in B; B contains A) and hierarchical (A is a type of B; B is a class containing A) relational responding as core repertoires for categorisation. As such, RFT regards both containment and hierarchical relational responding as core repertoires for categorisation