Revisiting the Role of the Medial Temporal Lobe in Motor Learning

Classic taxonomies of memory distinguish explicit and implicit memory systems, placing motor skills squarely in the latter branch. This assertion is in part a consequence of foundational discoveries showing significant motor learning in amnesics. Those findings suggest that declarative memory processes in the medial temporal lobe (MTL) do not contribute to motor learning. Here, we revisit this issue, testing an individual (L. S. J.) with severe MTL damage on four motor learning tasks and comparing her performance to age-matched controls. Consistent with previous findings in amnesics, we observed that L. S. J. could improve motor performance despite having significantly impaired declarative memory. However, she tended to perform poorly relative to age-matched controls, with deficits apparently related to flexible action selection. Further supporting an action selection deficit, L. S. J. fully failed to learn a task that required the acquisition of arbitrary action–outcome associations. We thus propose a modest revision to the classic taxonomic model: Although MTL-dependent memory processes are not necessary for some motor learning to occur, they play a significant role in the acquisition, implementation, and retrieval of action selection strategies. These findings have implications for our understanding of the neural correlates of motor learning, the psychological mechanisms of skill, and the theory of multiple memory systems.

THE APPLICATION OF CONSISTENCY OF TREATMENT IN DISMISSALS FOR MISCONDUCT

Fairness in employment necessitates that the employer apply consistent disciplinary standards in the workplace, so that employees who commit the same or similar disciplinary infraction are treated equally. The Code of Good Practice: Dismissal (in Schedule 8 of the Labour Relations Act 55 of 1995) sets out a range of guidelines to be applied by the employer before a decision to dismiss an employer may be taken. It seeks to protect employees from arbitrary action by the employer in order to achieve a measure of employment justice. Employers must therefore apply the rules of the workplace consistently by effecting discipline against all employees accountable for similar misconduct, and also by applying the same sanction for similar infractions. The principle of consistent treatment of employees is referred to as the “parity principle”. It provides that employees who participate in the same or similar wrongdoing, with no distinguishing factors from one case to another, should be penalized in the same way. The foundation of the principle lies in the notion that similar cases must be treated in a similar fashion. It is based on the principle of reasonableness in that fairness in the workplace requires the application of reasonable rules, and not arbitrary or irrational opinions of the employer. Reasonable rules will reflect generality and equality and invariably lead to legal certainty, and a failure by the employer to apply those standards consistently may lead to a finding that the employer acted unfairly in dismissal disputes. In addition to the requirement of consistency, an employer is required to consider a range of other factors before taking the decision to dismiss an employee. These include the gravity of the misconduct; the nature of the work performed by the employee; the circumstances under which the infraction occurred; and the employee’s personal circumstances which may relate to the previous disciplinary record of the employee; his/her length of service and the employee’s personal circumstances. The consideration of these circumstances often leads to a tension between applying the requirement of consistency on the one hand, and the need to take into account the specific circumstances of the employee and circumstances of the misconduct. This comment explores the different approaches adopted by the courts in determining whether or not inconsistent treatment by the employer justifies a finding that the dismissal of an employee was unfair in view of the obligation to take into account the other factors required in the Code. These issues often arise in circumstances where an employee is dismissed by an employer and claims that the employer acted unfairly because other employees were given less severe sanctions for the same or similar misconduct. In deciding the fairness of the matter, the courts have drawn a distinction between individual misconduct and collective misconduct. Historical inconsistency is generally applied in cases of individual misconduct, whilst contemporaneous inconsistency is applied in circumstances of collective misconduct.

Regulatory aspects of the stages of formation of subjectivity of university students

The article considers the role of the universal system of conscious self-regulation as a meta-resource in the system of stages of formation of subjectivity (ontological model). The concepts of hierarchical levels of formation of self-regulation are considered: maintaining the level of human adaptation; level of difficulty; the degree of concreteness of achieving life goals (universal (meta-) and special regulatory resources). The stages of the formation of subjectivity are considered in the ontological continuum “subject of spontaneous activity — subject of arbitrary action”, this model is not tied to a specific activity, and is also universal. For the first time, a study was conducted of the relationship of self-regulation profiles with the structure of the stages of formation of subjectivity in relation to the achievement of the goal in systemforming activities (by the example of student learning actions). Using a correlation analysis, intersystemic relationships were established between indicators of conscious self-regulation (planning, modeling, programming, evaluation), regulatory qualities (flexibility, independence) and the general level of self-regulation with the severity of the stages of formation of subjectivity, their integrity and connectedness. The process of formation of subjective qualities is considered depending on the typology with the allocation of three profiles of the empirical structure of self-regulation for two samples (88 people in total). Samples of university students are compared in the direction of preparation (the first is engineering, the second is computer technology, the most involved in digitalization). For each of the samples, specific interrelation results were obtained. The results obtained are relevant in the scientific and applied terms for the development of individual educational routes.

Spatiotemporal dissociation of fMRI activity in the caudate nucleus underlies human de novo motor skill learning

Motor skill learning involves a complex process of generating novel movement patterns guided by evaluative feedback, such as a reward. Previous literature has suggested anteroposteriorly separated circuits in the striatum to be implicated in early goal-directed and later automatic stages of motor skill learning, respectively. However, the involvement of these circuits has not been well elucidated in human de novomotor skill learning, which requires learning arbitrary action–outcome associations and value-based action selection. To investigate this issue, we conducted a human functional MRI (fMRI) experiment in which participants learned to control a computer cursor by manipulating their right fingers. We discovered a double dissociation of fMRI activity in the anterior and posterior caudate nucleus, which was associated with performance in the early and late learning stages. Moreover, cognitive and sensorimotor cortico-caudate interactions predicted individual learning performance. Our results suggest parallel cortico-caudate networks operating in different stages of human de novomotor skill learning.

Work Relationship Terminated Employees Legal Protection To Get Severance Payment From PT. Kertas Lecess Related To Law Of Bankruptcy And Law Of Labor

This research titled is work relationship terminated employees legal protection to get severance payment from PT. Kertas Lecess related to law of bankruptcy and law of labor. The position of the worker or labor can be seen in two aspects, namely in terms of juridical and socio-economic aspects. From a socio-economic point of view, workers need legal protection from the state for the possibility of arbitrary action by entrepreneur. The form of protection provided by the government is by making regulations that bind workers and employeee, in this case there is Law Number 37 of 2004 concerning Bankruptcy and Delaying Obligations of Debt Payment Jo. Law Number 13 of 2003 concerning Labor Jo. MK Decision No. 67 / PUU-XI / 2013PT. The regulation is used as a basis for employees of PT. Kertas Lecess to sue the BUMN to be declared bankrupt and responsible for paying severance for its employees. PT. Kertas Lecess is a state-owned enterprise (BUMN), which went bankrupt in September 2019. There are around 1800 workers who must receive termination of employment. The value of severance payment for workers affected by layoffs is around Rp. 300 billion. Employees affected by layoffs protest because they have not received severance payment and even 1,900 employees who have not received their salary for 4 years. PT. Kertas Lecess was decided bankrupt by the Surabaya Commercial Court as a result of the cancellation of the peace proposal submitted by 15 of his employees on September 25, 2018. With the above considerations, the Panel of Judges of the Surabaya District Court, decided to grant the request for a cancellation of peace (Homologation) and stated that PT. Kertas Lecess is proven guilty of negligence for the non-payment of the salaries of PT. Kertas Lecess employees.

Murder License for Murder in the March; Reiterated in 2013 Approved Islamic Penal Code Regarding Mahdur al- Damm (Deserving Death)

In the case law of Iran, the punishment for a deliberate murder following the religion of Islam is retribution of the soul (qisas), but in cases, several retaliation orders have been eliminated, of such cases is Murder in the March and it is where a husband observes his wife and a barbarian man committing adultery and then commits the crime of murdering them. About the importance of this discussion, it is worth noting that the Article 302 of Islamic Punishment Code of 2013, also complying with the comment of the noted jurisprudents of Imamiyah, who have considered the murder of the wife and the barbarian adulterer by the husband the exclusion of retribution. Despite all criticisms made in the new Islamic Penal Code, it has again been reiterated and being slightly changed in the surface of the articles, they are still binding in accordance with the Article 630 of Islamic Punishment Code of sanctions sector, for this reason, efforts have been made in this research to study and lay out the aforementioned articles and present the previously conducted studies in this regard, dealing with these legal articles and the possibility to change them in order to resolve this problem. From the perspective of the case law, the Clause "E", the Article 302 of Islamic Penal Code, it can be misused by professional killers and be set forth as the Murder in the March. Although, the legislator has put punishment for Ta'zir or "deterrent" in the new law for arbitrary action without permission from the court and also taking measure based on the wrong belief but since in many cases, the perpetrators of honor murders, according to this decree, consider themselves right to commit this murder. It seems that the universality of the above decree has to be reduced and the punishment level for the arbitrary actions in such cases has to be added. The current research studies the well-known comment of the jurisprudents and its critique regarding Murder in the March related Murder License; reiterated in the Islamic Punishment Code approved in 2013 concerning Mahdor al-Adam.

Double dissociation of fMRI activity in the caudate nucleus supports de novo motor skill learning

Motor skill learning involves a complex process of generating novel movement patterns typically guided by evaluative feedback such as reward. Many studies have suggested that two separate circuits in the basal ganglia, rostral and caudal, are implicated in early goal-directed and later automatic stages of motor skill learning, respectively. However, there remains much to be elucidated about the respective involvement of the basal ganglia circuits in learning motor skills from scratch, which requires learning arbitrary action-outcome associations. To investigate this issue, we conducted a novel human fMRI experiment in which the participants learned to control a computer cursor on a screen by manipulating their right fingers. The experiment consisted of two fMRI sessions separated by five behavioral training sessions over multiple days. We discovered a double dissociation of fMRI activities in the rostral and caudal caudate nucleus, which were associated with skill performance in the early and late stages of learning. Moreover, we found that cognitive and sensorimotor cortico-caudate interactions distinctively predicted individual learning performance. In line with recent non-human primate studies, our results support the existence of parallel cortico-caudate networks involved in goal-directed and automatic stages of de novo motor skill learning.

On the equivalence of mixed and behavior strategies in finitely additive decision problems

We consider decision problems with arbitrary action spaces, deterministic transitions, and infinite time horizon. In the usual setup when probability measures are countably additive, a general version of Kuhn’s theorem implies under fairly general conditions that for every mixed strategy of the decision maker there exists an equivalent behavior strategy. We examine to what extent this remains valid when probability measures are only assumed to be finitely additive. Under the classical approach of Dubins and Savage (2014), we prove the following statements: (1) If the action space is finite, every mixed strategy has an equivalent behavior strategy. (2) Even if the action space is infinite, at least one optimal mixed strategy has an equivalent behavior strategy. The approach by Dubins and Savage turns out to be essentially maximal: these two statements are no longer valid if we take any extension of their approach that considers all singleton plays.