Outcome probability versus magnitude: when waiting benefits one at the cost of the other.

Using a continuous impulsivity and risk platform (CIRP) that was constructed using a video game engine, choice was assessed under conditions in which waiting produced a continuously increasing probability of an outcome with a continuously decreasing magnitude (Experiment 1) or a continuously increasing magnitude of an outcome with a continuously decreasing probability (Experiment 2). Performance in both experiments reflected a greater desire for a higher probability even though the corresponding wait times produced substantive decreases in overall performance. These tendencies are considered to principally reflect hyperbolic discounting of probability, power discounting of magnitude, and the mathematical consequences of different response rates.

Child abuse pediatric consults in the pediatric emergency department improve adherence to hospital guidelines.

Background: Little data describes the role of child abuse pediatricians in consultation for physical abuse patients the pediatric emergency department.

Objectives: To compare adherence in the emergency department to hospital physical abuse guidelines and need to return for testing between 2 groups: those receiving a child abuse consultation in the pediatric emergency department vs those who received standard emergency department care with subsequent child abuse review.

Methods: We reviewed 471 records of visits to the pediatric emergency department for physical abuse.

Diagnostic findings in infants presenting to a pediatric emergency department for lethargy or feeding complaints.

Objectives: Lethargy is a common complaint among infants in the pediatric emergency department (ED), yet there is little data to guide appropriate evaluation. The objectives of the study were (1) to determine the frequency of diagnoses requiring intervention/monitoring and (2) to identify predictors of these diagnoses.

Methods: A retrospective chart review of patients aged 0 to 6 months with a chief complaint of lethargy or poor feeding from January 2004 to December 2009 was performed.

Sensitivity to changing contingencies in an impulsivity task.

Using a video-game-based escalating interest task, participants repeatedly encountered a reward that gradually increased in value over a 10-second interval. Responding early in the interval netted less immediate reward than responding later in the interval. Each participant experienced four different reward contingencies for waiting.

Magnitude effects for experienced rewards at short delays in the escalating interest task.

A first-person shooter video game was adapted for the study of choice between smaller sooner and larger later rewards. Participants chose when to fire a weapon that increased in damage potential over a short interval. When the delay to maximum damage was shorter (5-8 s), people showed greater sensitivity to the consequences of their choices than when the delay was longer (17-20 s).

Deciding when to "cash in" when outcomes are continuously improving: an escalating interest task.

A first-person shooter video game was adapted for the study of choice between smaller sooner and larger later outcomes. Participants chose when to fire a weapon that increased in damage potential over a 10s interval, an escalating interest situation. Across two experiments, participants demonstrated sensitivity to the nature of the mathematical function that defined the relationship between waiting and damage potential.

Allergen exposure modifies the relation of sensitization to fraction of exhaled nitric oxide levels in children at risk for allergy and asthma.

Background: Studies on airway inflammation, measured as fraction of exhaled nitric oxide (FENO), have focused on its relation to control of asthma, but the contribution of allergen exposure to the increase in FENO levels is unknown.

Objective: We evaluated (1) whether FENO levels were increased in children with allergic sensitization or asthma; (2) whether specific allergen exposure increased FENO levels in sensitized, but not unsensitized, children; and (3) whether sedentary behavior increased FENO levels independent of allergen exposures.

Methods: At age 12 years, in a birth cohort of children with a parental history of allergy or asthma, we measured bed dust allergen (dust mite, cat, and cockroach) by means of ELISA, specific allergic sensitization primarily based on specific IgE levels, and respiratory disease (current asthma, rhinitis, and wheeze) and hours of television viewing/video game playing by means of questionnaire.