Hybrid or blended learning (BL) has been shown to be equivalent to or better than face-to-face (FTF) instruction in a broad variety of contexts. We randomly assigned students to either 50/50 BL or 100% FTF versions of a research methods and statistics in psychology course. Students who took the BL version of the course scored significantly lower on measures of quantitative mastery of statistical concepts than those who took the FTF version; however, the size of this effect was quite small. We detected no significant difference between BL and FTF in the expression of critical thinking through writing or writing mechanics. The greatest difference in performance was among instructors regardless of instruction type. We discuss these results in the context of increasing online and BL instruction, particularly with regard to teaching psychological statistics, research methods, and critical thinking.

There are sex differences in the neurochemistry of brainstem nuclei that participate in the control of breathing, as well as sex differences in respiratory responses to hypoxia. Central chemoreception refers to the detection within the brain of minute changes in carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) levels and the subsequent modulation of breathing. Putative central chemoreceptor sites are widespread and include cells located near the ventral surface of the brainstem in the retrotrapezoid nucleus (RTN), in the medullary midline raphe nuclei, and, more dorsally in the medulla, in the nucleus of the solitary tract and in the locus coeruleus at the pontomedullary junction, as well as in the fastigial nucleus of the cerebellum. In this study, we ask if the cells that respond to CO 2 differ between the sexes. We used a transgenic mouse with a c-fos promoter driven tau-lacZ reporter construct (FTL) to map the locations of cells in the mouse brainstem and cerebellum that responded to exposure of mice of both sexes to 5% CO 2 or room air (control). X-gal (5-bromo-4-chloro-3-indolyl-beta-Dgalactopyranoside) histochemical staining to detect the beta-galactosidase enzyme produced staining in the brains of mice of both sexes in all of the previously identified putative chemoreceptor sites, with the exception of the fastigial nucleus. Notably, the male RTN region contained significantly more x-gal labeled cells than the female RTN region. In addition to new observations regarding potential sex differences in the retrotrapezoid region, we found the FTL mouse to be a useful tool for identifying cells that respond to the exposure of the whole animal to relatively low concentrations of CO 2 .

Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is known to promote fear learning as well as avoidant behavioral responses to chronic social defeat stress, but, conversely, this peptide can also have antidepressant effects and can reduce depressant-like symptoms such as social avoidance. The purpose of this study was to use a variety of approaches to determine whether BDNF acting on tropomyosin receptor kinase B (TrkB) promotes or prevents avoidant phenotypes in hamsters and mice that have experienced acute social defeat stress. We utilized systemic and brain regiondependent manipulation of BDNF signaling before or immediately following social defeat stress in Syrian hamsters, TrkB F616A knock-in mice, and C57Bl/6J mice and measured the subsequent behavioral response to a novel opponent. Systemic TrkB receptor agonists reduced, and TrkB receptor antagonists enhanced, behavioral responses to social defeat in hamsters and mice. In the neural circuit that we have shown mediates defeat-induced behavioral responses, BDNF in the basolateral amygdala, but not the nucleus accumbens, also reduced social avoidant phenotypes. Conversely, knockdown in the basolateral amygdala of TrkB signaling in TrkB F616A mice enhanced defeat-induced social avoidance. These data demonstrate that systemic administration of BDNF-TrkB drugs at the time of social defeat alters the behavioral response to the defeat stressor. These drugs appear to act, at least in part, in the basolateral amygdala and not the nucleus accumbens. These findings were generalizable to two rodent species with very different social structures and, within mice, to a variety of strains providing converging evidence that BDNF-TrkB signaling reduces anxiety-and depression-like symptoms following short-term social stress.

Syrian hamsters are highly aggressive animals that reliably defend their home territory. After social defeat, however, hamsters no longer defend their home cage but instead display submissive and defensive behavior toward an intruder, a response that we have termed conditioned defeat. Plasma testosterone is significantly reduced in Syrian hamsters following repeated defeat suggesting that social defeat might also impair copulatory behavior. The present study aimed to determine whether copulatory behavior in male Syrian hamsters is suppressed following repeated social defeats and additionally whether exposure to a hormone-primed stimulus female after social defeat reduces the behavioral response to defeat. Hamsters were paired with an aggressive opponent for one or nine defeats using a resident-intruder model, while controls were placed into the empty cage of a resident aggressor. On the day after the last treatment, half of the hamsters were paired with a receptive female for 10 min. There were no significant differences in the copulatory behavior of defeated versus non-defeated hamsters, and the opportunity to copulate had no effect on subsequent conditioned defeat testing, as defeated animals displayed significantly more submissive behavior than did non-defeated animals. The current data suggest that conditioned defeat is not necessarily a maladaptive response to social stress, at least in terms of reproductive behavior, but may instead represent a viable behavioral strategy adopted by losing animals following social defeat. Further, these data indicate that conditioned defeat is relatively persistent and stable, as the opportunity to copulate does not reduce the subsequent display of submissive behavior.