Gillian Lester

Oxytocin-induced facilitation of lordosis behaviour in rats is progesterone-dependent

Oxytocin was administered intracerebroventricularly to ovariectomized female rats and its effect on lordosis was examined. In Experiment 1a, oxytocin (0.17 mU in 4 microliters saline) failed to facilitate lordosis behaviour in animals primed acutely with 10 micrograms estradiol benzoate (EB) and 300 micrograms progesterone (P). In Experiment 1b, however, oxytocin significantly facilitated lordosis in animals primed acutely with 10 micrograms EB and 250 or 200 micrograms P. In Experiments 2a and 2b, oxytocin failed to facilitate lordosis in animals treated acutely with 10 micrograms EB, or chronically with 0.8 micrograms EB daily for eight days prior to testing. These results support the hypothesis that the facilitation of lordosis in ovariectomized rats by centrally-administered oxytocin is progesterone-dependent.

State Disparities in the Diagnosis and Placement of Pupils with Learning Disabilities

We investigated the hypothesis that interstate disparities in the diagnosis of pupils with learning disabilities (LD) are more strongly correlated with demographic and sociopolitical factors than with the biological prevalence of the disability. We also investigated the relationship of these factors to placement practices. Thirteen independent variables representing state characteristics were simultaneously regressed against each of seven static dependent variables, measuring diagnostic and placement practices in 1989, and two dynamic dependent variables, measuring changes in practices between 1976 and 1989. Results of the regression indicated that although demographic and sociopolitical factors explained none of the total prevalence of the four most common physical disabilities (adjusted R 2[R 2] = 0), they did explain to a moderate degree the state prevalence of LD (R 2 ranged from .15 to .28), and were more predictive still depending on measure of LD prevalence. Moreover, these same factors strongly predicted the extent to which states mainstreamed their pupils (R 2 = .59) and the size of the nonmainstreamed cognitively disabled (LD and educable mentally retarded) population (R 2 = .56).

β-endorphin inhibits and facilitates lordosis behaviour in rats depending on ventricular site of administration

beta-endorphin was administered intracerebroventricularly into the lateral and third ventricles of ovariectomized, oestrogen- and progesterone-primed rats, and its effect on lordosis and ear-wiggling was assessed. A dose of 2 micrograms beta-endorphin facilitated lordosis when infused into the lateral ventricle, but inhibited lordosis when infused into the third ventricle. The effects were the same whether measured at 30, 60 or 90 min following infusion. beta-endorphin had no significant effect on ear-wiggling frequency when administered in either ventricle. The differential effects of beta-endorphin depending on site of administration may reflect the activation of distinct opioid receptor subtypes within the brain.

Can Joe the Plumber Support Redistribution? Law, Social Preferences, and Sustainable Policy Design

This article explores how to build political support for law reform designed to achieve economic redistribution. Specifically, I analyze and compare reforms that aim to redistribute by targeting benefits at low-income individuals through an income or means test, versus those that emphasize “universal” allocation of benefits, not conditioned on poverty. I argue that notwithstanding that we should expect universal provision (by definition) to achieve less redistribution than means testing, universalist policies ultimately may be more effective in achieving this goal because they are likely to be more politically durable, and–more intriguingly—to create social conditions that increase toleration for redistribution. I support this argument by drawing upon the growing body of research in psychology and economics suggesting that people have a mixture of self-regarding and other-regarding impulses, and that some forms of social organization are more likely than others to elicit pro-social behavior. Universalist programs, I argue, plausibly increase preferences for redistribution by tapping social norms of reciprocity, generating group identity effects based on a sense of common vulnerability, and serving as a “policy frame” that de-emphasizes the salience of low-income people as an undeserving “out-group.” I use a case study of recent social insurance legislation as a springboard for developing an empirical research agenda that would help evaluate the strength of my thesis. The analysis offered by this article has implications for contemporary intellectual debates in such areas as tax policy, public finance, behavioral law and economics, distributive justice, law and psychology, health law.

The Aging Workforce and Paid Time Off

The workforce is getting older. This is not simply a matter of the workforce aging as the population ages. The relative workforce participation of older Americans has risen steadily over the past decade.1 The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that the workforce participation rate of workers in the over-55 age group will continue to increase, pushing back the retirement age.2