Caution is required when considering sentience in animals: a response to the commentary by Briffa (2022) on “Hermit crabs,shells, and sentience” (Elwood 2022)

Animal Cognition - My recent review examined the complex and intimate relationship between hermit crabs and the empty gastropod shells upon which they depend for survival. Because shells come with...     

The curve is still out there: a reply to Bushman, Wang, and Anderson's (2005) "Is the curve relating temperature to aggression linear or curvilinear?"

This article replies to research conducted by B. J. Bushman, M. C. Wang, and C. A. Anderson and demonstrates that the results of prior research by E. G. Cohn and J. Rotton do support the existence of a curvilinear relationship between temperature and aggression when time of day is taken into consideration. The shape of the relationship between temperature and aggression also depends on a number of other factors, including season, amount of social interaction, type of violence, and type of setting. It appears that linear relationships between temperature and aggression identified by B. J. Bushman et al. are less ubiquitous than might be believed and that the curve is still out there.     

Addressing the needs of new mothers in a multi-cultural setting: an evaluation of home visiting support for new mothers – Mom to Mom (Negev)

This study evaluated the Mom to Mom (M2M) program operating in the Negev region of Israel, an area with a high proportion of immigrants. M2M helps women cope with the first year of parenting through home visits of volunteer mothers. Specific objectives were to evaluate (1) Participants’ motivations for joining M2M; (2) Gains from participation; and (3) The effect of participation on post-partum depression (PPD). Three stages included (1) Analysis of demographics of all 440 mothers in M2M; (2) A telephone survey of 51 mothers to assess gains from participation; and (3) 137 mothers filled out the Edinburgh Post-Natal Depression Scale (EPDS) and were followed for one year. Most mothers in M2M were first time mothers, with a high rate of perinatal complications (54.4%) and positive EPDS scores (38.7%). Two major reasons for participation were being an immigrant and having low income. The greatest gains from home visits were increased self-confidence, improved parenting skills and communication with the partner. Seventy-nine percent of mothers with PPD symptoms were functioning at work and at home after a year from joining the program. Our findings suggest that M2M has the capacity to address challenges in the post-natal period among women from diverse cultures.     

Problems in Measuring Diachronic Religious Behavior,or Using Indicators to ‘Make a Virtue of Necessity’: the Case of the Netherlands (1975–2005)

The aim of this study is to show the different advantages and drawbacks of the main quantitative indicators used in research on diachronic religious behavior. We will demonstrate that religious affiliation has to be used in long-term studies; although it is extremely imprecise, it is often available over long periods of time. Instead, the best solution for medium-term studies is to use frequency of attendance at religious services. This indicator is more accurate than religious affiliation, but is only widely available from the 1960s–1970s onwards. Finally, the most suitable indicator for short-term analysis is obtained from diary-based time-use studies. It is the most precise of the three indicators, but the source is less readily available as these surveys have only been conducted in most countries in the last 30 years. This study is based on data from Time Use Surveys conducted in the Netherlands every 5 years from 1975 to 2005.     

Making the shift from ‘addict self ’ to ‘spiritual self ’: Results from a Stage I study of Spiritual Self-Schema (3-S) therapy for the treatment of addiction and HIV risk behavior

A manual-guided intervention, Spiritual Self-Schema (3-S) therapy, for the treatment of addiction and HIV risk behavior is being developed in a Stage I behavioral therapies development project. 3-S therapy integrates a cognitive model of self with a non-sectarian Buddhist framework suitable for people of all faiths. Data are presented on a sample of 29 cocaine- and opioid-dependent clients. Seventy-nine percent completed the 8-week intervention. Drug use and other HIV risk behaviors decreased with treatment. Evidence of a shift in self-schema from ‘addict self?’ to ‘spiritual self?’ is presented. Reaction time to endorse spiritual qualities as ‘me’ and addict qualities as ‘not me’ decreased, and self-report of daily spiritual experiences and practices, and the perceived influence of spirituality on behavior increased. A shift in self-schema was correlated with change in drug use and other HIV risk behaviors.     

A visual familiarity account of evidence for orthographic processing in pigeons <Emphasis Type="Italic">(Columbia livia)</Emphasis>: a reply to Scarf,Corballis, Güntürkün,and Colombo (2017)

Scarf et al. (Proc Natl Acad Sci 113(40):11272–11276, 2016) demonstrated that pigeons, as with baboons (Grainger et al. in Science 336(6078):245–248, 2012; Ziegler in Psychol Sci.  https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797612474322, 2013), can be trained to display several behavioural hallmarks of human orthographic processing. But, Vokey and Jamieson (Psychol Sci 25(4):991–996, 2014) demonstrated that a standard, autoassociative neural network model of memory applied to pixel maps of the words and nonwords reproduces all of those results. In a subsequent report, Scarf et al. (Anim Cognit 20(5):999–1002, 2017) demonstrated that pigeons can reproduce one more marker of human orthographic processing: the ability to discriminate visually presented four-letter words from their mirror-reversed counterparts (e.g. “LEFT” vs. “ Open image in new window ”). The current report shows that the model of Vokey and Jamieson (2014) reproduces the results of Scarf et al. (2017) and reinforces the original argument: the recent results thought to support a conclusion of orthographic processing in pigeons and baboons are consistent with but do not force that conclusion.