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Selective attention decreases trial-to-trial variability in cortical auditory-evoked activity. This effect increases over the course of maturation, potentially reflecting the gradual development of selective attention and inhibitory control. Work in adults indicates that music training may alter the development of this neural response characteristic, especially over brain regions associated with executive control: in adult musicians, attention decreases variability in auditory-evoked responses recorded over prefrontal cortex to a greater extent than in nonmusicians. We aimed to determine whether this musician-associated effect emerges during childhood, when selective attention and inhibitory control are under development. We compared cortical auditory-evoked variability to attended and ignored speech streams in musicians and nonmusicians across three age groups: preschoolers, school-aged children and young adults. Results reveal that childhood music training is associated with reduced auditory-evoked response variability recorded over prefrontal cortex during selective auditory attention in school-aged child and adult musicians. Preschoolers, on the other hand, demonstrate no impact of selective attention on cortical response variability and no musician distinctions. This finding is consistent with the gradual emergence of attention during this period and may suggest no pre-existing differences in this attention-related cortical metric between children who undergo music training and those who do not. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: [•] We increased variability in conversation in children with autism using scripting, script fading and lag schedules. [•] Lag schedules increased variability. [•] Generalization did not occur. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Highlights: [•] We examined bird-vegetation relationships for eight common bird species during 10years following forest thinning. [•] We found consistently positive/negative relationships to vegetation characteristics for six bird species. [•] We found magnitude of bird-vegetation relationships to be highly variable across years. [•] Results suggest caution in interpreting findings of short-term animal-vegetation studies. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Highlights: [•] Children with ASD and neurotypical children differed in response variability. [•] The U-value statistic was used as a measure of variability. [•] Variability in responding increasing according to greater lag values. [•] Lag schedules of reinforcement increased response variability. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Studies have been carried out on satisfaction and international pleasure travel. Some have related satisfaction and past visits to a particular destination with intentions to recommend it, to revisit it. and to visit other destinations in its area. This study arose from reconsideration of research on satisfaction and stated intentions of travelers from Britain and Germany to Mallorca and Turkey. Analysis confirmed that satisfaction is a significant predictor of stated intentions and that contingent factors moderate the influence of satisfaction on intentions. Explaining limited variance led to the logical examination of why the explanation was not better. It is concluded that variance explanation was low because segments had particular satisfaction-likelihood relations and because satisfaction and likelihood responses were ambiguous. Sources of variation that can be controlled are identified. They include some first-time visitors not being likely to return regardless of satisfaction: personal satisfaction responses not reflecting what the party will do: and likelihood responses not having a clear meaning. Practical and research implications are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Electrophysiology is a chronometric tool to describe the time course of mental operations: this technique is unsurpassed when precise accounts of the covert activity of the brain are required. The scope of investigation in psychiatric research ranges from genes to cognition, from neurology to mind. This contribution reviews the efficacy of electrophysiology in delineating causal mechanisms, taking attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) as an example. We review key electrophysiological findings in the study of ADHD, which contribute to the aetiological framework. Further, it is suggested that electrophysiological studies that build on cognitive-experimental findings may direct future lines of investigation, especially in combination with genetic methodologies. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]