Evolutionary social science: A new approach to violent crime

Evolutionary Social Science unites evolutionary psychology and social science. Its core assumptions are that: (1) modern societies owe their character to an interaction of hunter–gatherer adaptations with the modern environment; (2) some changes in societies reflect change in individuals; (3) historical changes and cross-societal differences can be due to similar adaptational mechanisms, and (4) different social contexts modify development through adaptive mechanisms. Preliminary research is reviewed concerning historical and cross-national variation in violent crime to illustrate the new research strategy. Societal differences in violence can be partly explained in terms of reduced parental investment and increased mating aggression.     

Williams syndrome: cognition, personality, and adaptive behavior

Williams syndrome is caused by a microdeletion of at least 16 genes on chromosome 7q11.23. The syndrome results in mild to moderate mental retardation or learning disability. The behavioral phenotype for Williams syndrome is characterized by a distinctive cognitive profile and an unusual personality profile. Relative to overall level of intellectual ability, individuals with Williams syndrome typically show a clear strength in auditory rote memory, a strength in language, and an extreme weakness in visuospatial construction. The personality of individuals with Williams syndrome involves high sociability, overfriendliness, and empathy, with an undercurrent of anxiety related to social situations. The adaptive behavior profile for Williams syndrome involves clear strength in socialization skills (especially interpersonal skills related to initiating social interaction), strength in communication, and clear weakness in daily living skills and motor skills, relative to overall level of adaptive behavior functioning. Literature relevant to each of the components of the Williams syndrome behavioral phenotype is reviewed, including operationalizations of the Williams syndrome cognitive profile and the Williams syndrome personality profile. The sensitivity and specificity of these profiles for Williams syndrome, relative to individuals with other syndromes or mental retardation or borderline normal intelligence of unknown etiology, is considered. The adaptive behavior profile is discussed in relation to the cognitive and personality profiles. The importance of operationalizations of crucial components of the behavioral phenotype for the study of genotype/phenotype correlations in Williams syndrome is stressed. MRDD Research Reviews 2000;6:148-158.     

Health decision making and behavior: The role of affect‐laden constructs

A common criticism of social cognitive models predicting health behavior is their exclusion of affect—an important component of individual‐level decision processes for behavior change. Yet the role of affect, and its interaction with cognitions, is complex. We provide an overview of affect and pathways through which it is proposed to influence outcomes. Then, we discuss several common social cognitive models of health behavior change. Next, we highlight specific affect‐laden constructs (those that incorporate affective and cognitive components) related to health behavior change. We aim to provide clarity on terminology and measurement of the affect‐laden constructs and evidence associating them with health behavior. Finally, we discuss strategies for incorporating these constructs within popular cognitive‐based theories and provide suggestions for future work.     

Young children''s naive theory of biology

This article aimed at investigating the nature of young children's naive theory of biology by reviewing a large number of studies conducted in our laboratories. More specifically, we tried to answer the following five critical questions. What components does young children's knowledge system for biological phenomena (or naive biology) have? What functions does it have in children's lives? How is it acquired in ontogenesis? How does its early version change as children grow older? Is it universal across cultures and through history? We propose that young children's biological knowledge system has at least three components, that is, knowledge needed to specify the target objects of biology, ways of inferring attributes or behaviors of biological kinds, and a non-intentional causal explanatory framework, and that these three constitute a form of biology, which is adaptive in children's lives. We also claim that the core of naive biology is acquired based on specific cognitive constraints as well as the general mechanism of personification and the resultant vitalistic causality, but it is differently instantiated and elaborated through activity-based experiences in the surrounding culture.     

计算机化自适应测验在认知诊断中的应用

作为认知诊断与计算机化自适应测验相结合的产物, 认知诊断计算机化自适应测验(Cognitive Diagnostic Computerized Adaptive Testing, CD-CAT)是对被试知识状态的自适应。它既有传统CAT所面临的普遍性问题, 也有在认知诊断中遇到的特殊问题：由于认知诊断中涉及属性这一概念, CD-CAT与传统CAT有很大的差别。本文紧紧围绕属性引起的差异, 分别从认知诊断模型、题库建设、起始规则、选题策略、被试知识状态估计和终止规则等几部分详细介绍CD-CAT的研究进展和存在的问题。     

Call recognition in chicks of the Australian brush-turkey (Alectura lathami)

Most birds rely on imprinting and experience with conspecifics to learn species-specific recognition cues. Australian brush-turkeys (Alectura lathami) do not imprint and form no bonds with parents. They hatch asynchronously, disperse widely and meet juvenile conspecifics at an unpredictable age. Nevertheless, in captivity, hatchlings respond to other chicks. A recent study, which involved the use of robotic models, found that chicks prefer to approach robots that emit specific visual cues. Here, we evaluated their response to acoustic cues, which usually play an important role in avian social cognition. However, in simultaneous choice tests, neither 2-day-old nor 9-day-old chicks preferred the choice arm with playback of either chick or adult conspecific calls over the arm containing a silent loudspeaker. Chicks of both age classes, however, scanned their surroundings more during chick playback, and the response was thus consistent in younger and older chicks. We also presented the chicks with robotic models, either with or without playback of chick calls. They did not approach the calling robot more than they did the silent robot, indicating that the combination of visual and acoustic cues does not evoke a stronger response. These results will allow further comparison with species that face similar cognitive demands in the wild, such as brood parasites. Such a comparative approach, which is the focus of cognitive ecology, will enable us to further analyse the evolution and adaptive value of species recognition abilities.     

CRITICAL REMARKS ON THE COGNITIVE SCIENCE OF RELIGION

Cognitive explanations of religious beliefs propose an evolutionary past in which humans had to possess certain cognitive adaptations to survive. The aim of this article is to show that some cognitive accounts may overvalue the putative role of cognition. One such cognitive idea is an assumption that cognition has been evolutionarily shaped only, or most importantly, in the Pleistocene. This idea seems common among writers on the cognitive science of religion (CSR), but is mistaken. Cognition has been shaped throughout evolution. Another idea is that components of religion could not have been produced by natural selection (the hypothesis that religion is a by-product). But the article suggests that there are some domains in the field of religion and religious components that could be acquired and transmitted despite or even against alleged cognitive biases. The aim of this article is to argue for an extended approach that combines a cognitive account with functional naturalistic approaches, including an adaptationist one. Such distinction could imply that cognition is not functional. Obviously, this is not the case since cognition is the process of knowing, and surely knowledge is functional. However, the main argument for such a distinction lies in the key idea of the cognitive account that as far as cognition is functional and adaptive, religious components are not. Functionalism or “adaptivism” concerning cognition contradicts functionalism concerning religion. Numbers of scholars who consider themselves part of CSR seem also to consider both cognition and religion adaptive. However, in regard to components of religion, their adaptive, functional power is only secondary. The article concludes that the study of religion—as the study of cultural evolution in general—should include a pluralistic methodology combining cognitive and evolutionary accounts with the specificity of cultural evolution.     

Thinking About Your Thoughts: Investigating Different Cognitive Change Strategies

A mainstay technique of cognitive therapy is the cognitive error (CE) method, which aims to mitigate psychological distress by identifying logical errors in thinking and replacing them with alternative, adaptive cognitions. Monson and Fredman (2012) have developed a different cognitive change strategy, named the U.N.S.T.U.C.K., which is predicated on the notion of increasing cognitive flexibility to improve distress. This therapy analogue study (N?=?32) examined the emotional change produced by each strategy and initially tested each strategy??s underlying theory. Both strategies resulted in emotional change, and there was a marginally significant advantage of the U.N.S.T.U.C.K. in producing this change. The U.N.S.T.U.C.K. also resulted in a greater decline in belief in original thought over time. Finally, the interaction between level of belief in new thought and cognitive strategy was a marginally significant predictor of emotional change; there was a stronger relationship between belief in new thought and emotional change for those in the U.N.S.T.U.C.K. group. Limitations and future research directions are offered.     

The essential nature of borderline psychopathology

We suggest that the core features of borderline personality disorder (BPD) are the intense inner pain commonly reported by borderline patients and the awkward means they use to manage and express this pain. In this model, the pain has both affective and cognitive components. The awkward means of managing and expressing this pain are behavioral and interpersonal in nature. The etiology of these core features of BPD seems to lie in the interaction of a kindling event or events, which can be traumatic or normative in nature, and a vulnerable or hyperbolic temperament. The treatment and nosological implications of this model are discussed.     

Severity Indices of Personality Problems (SIPP-118): development, factor structure, reliability, and validity

This article describes a series of studies involving 2,730 participants on the development and validity testing of the Severity Indices of Personality Problems (SIPP), a self-report questionnaire covering important core components of (mal)adaptive personality functioning. Results show that the 16 facets constituted homogeneous item clusters (i.e., unidimensional and internally consistent parcels) that fit well into 5 clinically interpretable, higher order domains: self-control, identity integration, relational capacities, social concordance, and responsibility. These domains appeared to have good concurrent validity across various populations, good convergent validity in terms of associations with interview ratings of the severity of personality pathology, and good discriminant validity in terms of associations with trait-based personality disorder dimensions. Furthermore, results suggest that the domain scores are stable over a time interval of 14-21 days in a student sample but are sensitive to change over a 2-year follow-up interval in a treated patient population. Taken together, the final instrument, the SIPP-118, provides a set of 5 reliable, valid, and efficient indices of the core components of (mal)adaptive personality functioning.     

Goal orientation and ability: interactive effects on self-efficacy,performance, and knowledge

This study examined the direct relationship of goal orientation--and the interaction of goal orientation and cognitive ability--with self-efficacy, performance, and knowledge in a learning context. The authors argue that whether a particular type of goal orientation is adaptive or not adaptive depends on individuals' cognitive ability. Consistent with previous research, learning orientation was positively related to self-efficacy, performance, and knowledge, whereas performance orientation was negatively related to performance only. The interactions between goal orientation and ability also supported several hypotheses. As expected, learning orientation was generally adaptive for high-ability individuals but had no effect for low-ability individuals. In contrast, the effects of performance orientation were contingent on both individuals' level of cognitive ability and the outcome examined.     

Comparative evolutionary psychology of sperm competition

A comparative evolutionary psychological perspective predicts that species that recurrently faced similar adaptive problems may have evolved similar psychological mechanisms to solve these problems. Sperm competition provides an arena in which to assess the heuristic value of such a comparative evolutionary perspective. The sperm competition that results from female infidelity and polyandry presents a similar class of adaptive problems for individuals across many species. The authors first describe mechanisms of sperm competition in insects and in birds. They suggest that the adaptive problems and evolved solutions in these species provide insight into human anatomy, physiology, psychology, and behavior. The authors then review recent theoretical and empirical arguments for the existence of sperm competition in humans and discuss proposed adaptations in humans that have analogs in insects or birds. The authors conclude by highlighting the heuristic value of a comparative evolutionary psychological approach in this field.     

Understanding team adaptation: a conceptual analysis and model

This endeavor provides a multidisciplinary, multilevel, and multiphasic conceptualization of team adaptation with theoretical roots in the cognitive, human factors, and industrial-organizational psychology literature. Team adaptation and the emergent nature of adaptive team performance are defined from a multilevel, theoretical standpoint. An input-throughput-output model is advanced to illustrate a series of phases unfolding over time that constitute the core processes and emergent states underlying adaptive team performance and contributing to team adaptation. The cross-level mixed-determinants model highlights team adaptation in a nomological network of lawful relations. Testable propositions, practical implications, and directions for further research in this area are also advanced.     

儿童社会认知发展的特点

社会认知是个体对社会性客体和社会现象及其关系的感知和理解活动。综合分析国内外已有研究,我们认为儿童社会认知发展具有如下主要特点：(1)儿童社会认知的发展是一个逐步区分认识社会性客体的过程;(2)儿童社会认知发展的核心体现是观点采择能力的发展：(3)儿童社会认知各方面的发展是非同步、不等速的;(4)儿童社会认知的发展具有认知发展的普遍规律．但不完全受认知发展的影响;(5)儿童社会认知的发展与社会交往密切相关。     

The extended argument dependency model: a neurocognitive approach to sentence comprehension across languages

Real-time language comprehension is a principal cognitive ability and thereby relates to central properties of the human cognitive architecture. Yet how do the presumably universal cognitive and neural substrates of language processing relate to the astounding diversity of human languages (over 5,000)? The authors present a neurocognitive model of online comprehension, the extended argument dependency model (eADM), that accounts for cross-linguistic unity and diversity in the processing of core constituents (verbs and arguments). The eADM postulates that core constituent processing proceeds in three hierarchically organized phases: (1) constituent structure building without relational interpretation, (2) argument role assignment via a restricted set of cross-linguistically motivated information types (e.g., case, animacy), and (3) completion of argument interpretation using information from further domains (e.g., discourse context, plausibility). This basic architecture is assumed to be universal, with cross-linguistic variation deriving primarily from the information types applied in Phase 2 of comprehension. This conception can derive the appearance of similar neurophysiological and neuroanatomical processing correlates in seemingly disparate structures in different languages and, conversely, of cross-linguistic differences in the processing of similar sentence structures.     

Predicting Adaptive Performance: Further Tests of a Model of Adaptability

This research further investigates an 8-dimension taxonomy of adaptive performance developed by Pulakos, Arad, Donovan, and Plamondon (2000) and the usefulness of past experience, interest, and self-efficacy predictors developed to measure these same 8 dimensions for predicting adaptive job performance. Participants in the concurrent, criterion-related validation study included 739 military personnel. They completed the 3 adaptability measures as well as more traditional cognitive and noncognitive predictors. Supervisors of the study participants rated their adaptive job performance. Results showed support for the 8-dimension model of adaptability. In addition, cognitive ability, personality, and the new adaptability predictors were shown to predict adaptive performance, with some past experience items adding incremental validity beyond the more traditional cognitive ability and personality measures. Results are discussed.     

Blinking and thinking.

Blinking is related to certain cognitive processes. For example, individuals "punctuate" their speech by blinking between phrases and at the end of sentences. Daydreaming is associated with low rates of blinking. Blinking occurs between fixations and may be timed so as not to interfere with significant visual input. Apparently, blinking occurs at transitions between internal events and is inhibited at other times. In the experiment reported here, blinking was measured while the activity of operational memory was manipulated with mental load kept constant. The rate of blinking was significantly reduced when the cognitive operation of internal counting was being performed. It is inferred that the blink rate is low when information in memory is being operated on. To suspend blinking during certain cognitive activities would be adaptive if blinking disrupts them. Since the blackout period of the blink produces a rapid change in visual level, blinking disrupts those cognitive processes utilizing display areas accessible to visual input. Operational memory and the visual imagination may share components with the visual perceptual system. To protect these vulnerable processes from interference, blinking may be inhibited when they are active.     

Something old,something new: a developmental transition from familiarity to novelty preferences with hidden objects

Novelty seeking is viewed as adaptive, and novelty preferences in infancy predict cognitive performance into adulthood. Yet 7‐month‐olds prefer familiar stimuli to novel ones when searching for hidden objects, in contrast to their strong novelty preferences with visible objects ( Shinskey & Munakata, 2005 ). According to a graded representations perspective on object knowledge, infants gradually develop stronger object representations through experience, such that representations of familiar objects can be better maintained, supporting greater search than with novel objects. Object representations should strengthen with further development to allow older infants to shift from familiarity to novelty preferences with hidden objects. The current study tested this prediction by presenting 24 11‐month‐olds with novel and familiar objects that were sometimes visible and sometimes hidden. Unlike 7‐month‐olds, 11‐month‐olds showed novelty preferences with both visible and hidden objects. This developmental shift from familiarity to novelty preference with hidden objects parallels one that infants show months earlier with perceptible stimuli, but the two transitions may reflect different underlying mechanisms. The current findings suggest both change and continuity in the adaptive development of object representations and associated cognitive processes.     

Thinking chickens: a review of cognition,emotion, and behavior in the domestic chicken

Domestic chickens are members of an order, Aves, which has been the focus of a revolution in our understanding of neuroanatomical, cognitive, and social complexity. At least some birds are now known to be on par with many mammals in terms of their level of intelligence, emotional sophistication, and social interaction. Yet, views of chickens have largely remained unrevised by this new evidence. In this paper, I examine the peer-reviewed scientific data on the leading edge of cognition, emotions, personality, and sociality in chickens, exploring such areas as self-awareness, cognitive bias, social learning and self-control, and comparing their abilities in these areas with other birds and other vertebrates, particularly mammals. My overall conclusion is that chickens are just as cognitively, emotionally and socially complex as most other birds and mammals in many areas, and that there is a need for further noninvasive comparative behavioral research with chickens as well as a re-framing of current views about their intelligence.