Post-weaning social and cognitive performance of piglets raised pre-weaning either in a complex multi-suckling group housing system or in a conventional system with a crated sow

We studied the social and cognitive performance of piglets raised pre-weaning either in a conventional system with a sow in a farrowing crate (FC) or in a multi-suckling (MS) system in which 5 sows and their piglets could interact in a more physically enriched and spacious environment. After weaning at 4 weeks of age, 8 groups of 4 litter-mates per pre-weaning housing treatment were studied under equal and enriched post-weaning housing conditions. From each pen, one pair consisting of a dominant and a submissive pig was selected, based on a feed competition test (FCT) 2 weeks post-weaning. This pair was used in an informed forager test (IFT) which measured aspects of spatial learning and foraging strategies in a competitive context. During individual training, submissive (informed) pigs learned to remember a bait location in a testing arena with 8 buckets (the same bucket was baited in a search visit and a subsequent relocation visit), whereas dominant (non-informed) pigs always found the bait in a random bucket (search visits only). After learning their task, the informed pigs’ individual search visit was followed by a pairwise relocation visit in which they were accompanied by the non-informed pig. Effects of pre-weaning housing treatment were not distinctly present regarding the occurrence of aggression in the FCT and the learning performance during individual training in the IFT. During paired visits, informed and non-informed pigs changed their behaviour in response to being tested pairwise instead of individually, but MS and FC pigs showed few distinct behavioural differences.     

Global,component, and serial processing of printed words in beginning reading

Nonreaders (end of kindergarten) and beginning readers (end of first grade) were compared. Both nonreaders and beginning readers imposed integral perceptual structures on shape/terminal letter information and configural perceptual structures on medial letter information: visual attention varied as a function of the unit of visual information but not as a function of learning to read. Nonreaders remembered a word more accurately than a letter in a word, showing visual origins of the word superiority effect. Beginning readers remembered a word faster than a letter in a word, which they remembered faster than a letter sequence in a word, suggesting early origins of the word priority effect. Only gains in memory for a letter sequence correlated with gains in word decoding. Throughout first grade, sentence verification was faster, not more accurate, when sentences were presented normally compared to one word at a time; repeated exposure of a word in parafoveal and foveal vision facilitates speed but not accuracy of comprehension. Results are discussed in reference to a model of global, component, and serial procedures.     

Déterminants de Satisfaction Conjugale Chez des Personnes Vivant une Première ou une Seconde Union Conjugale

This study aims to compare the contribution of motivation, personality traits and sociodemographic variables to relationship satisfaction for people in a first and second conjugal union. A sample of 443 French Canadian partners, married or cohabiting, amongst whom 274 were living in a first union and 169 in a second conjugal union, completed a series of questionnaires. The results of multiple regression analyses showed that for people from the two types of union, a motivation was a negative predictor of relationship satisfaction while intrinsic motivation and agreeableness served as positive predictors. On the other hand, introjected regulation and neuroticism negatively contributed to satisfaction only for people in a second union while openness and conscientiousness provided a positive contribution only for people in a first union. Finally, having children from a first or a second union contributed to the happiness of people in a second union. This last finding contradicts those from other studies suggesting a relation between a decrease of marital satisfaction in remarried people and the presence of children from a previous union.     

Sleep-related attentional bias in good, moderate, and poor (primary insomnia) sleepers

Evidence was sought of an attentional bias toward a highly representative object of the bedroom environment in good, moderate, and poor (primary insomnia) sleepers. Using a flicker paradigm for inducing change blindness, the authors briefly presented a single scene comprising a group of bedroom environment and neutral objects to participants and then briefly replaced this scene with an identical scene containing a change made to either a bedroom environment or a neutral object. In a 3 x 2 entirely between-participants design, change-detection latencies revealed a sleep-related attentional bias in poor sleepers but not in good sleepers. A possible bias in moderate sleepers was also revealed. It is suggested that attentional bias has a role in the perpetuation and possibly precipitation of primary insomnia.     

Spatial cognition in zebrafish: the role of strain and rearing environment

Two strains of zebrafish, WIK and a second-generation wild strain were reared in either a structurally simple or complex environment and compared in their ability to locate a food reward in a five-chambered maze. There was a significant interaction within subjects between rearing environment and trial, indicating that the consistency of learning varied depending on rearing environment, with those reared in a structurally simple environment showing a slower rate of learning. Fish of both strains reared in a structurally complex environment were smaller than those reared in a simple environment. Our study demonstrates, for the first time in zebrafish, that performance in a learning task as an adult is sensitive to rearing conditions during development.     

Infants' Perception of Causal Chains

Three experiments examined infants' and adults' perception of causal sequences of events. In a causal-chain sequence, the first action causes a second action that then causes a final outcome; in a temporal-chain sequence, the first two actions are independent and the second action causes a final outcome. Infants and adults were shown the same event sequences; infants were tested using a visual habituation paradigm, whereas adults were given a questionnaire. Experiment 1 indicated that 15-month-old infants perceive the primary cause of the final outcome to be the first action in a causal chain but the second action in a temporal chain. Experiment 2 showed that adults interpret the causal sequences in a manner similar to that of 15-month-olds. Finally, Experiment 3 showed that 10-month-old infants do not yet perceive causal sequences in the same manner as 15-month-olds and adults. These results are interpreted in terms of both infants' developing knowledge of causal events and adults' attributions of causality in complex events.     

The representation and integration in memory of spatial and nonspatial information

A series of experiments investigated whether people could integrate nonspatial information about an object with their knowledge of the object's location in space. In Experiments 1 and 3, subjects learned the locations of cities on a fictitious road map; in Experiments 2, 4, and 5, subjects were already familiar with the locations of buildings on a campus. The subjects then learned facts about the cities on the maps or the buildings on the campus. The question of interest was whether or not these nonspatial facts would be integrated in memory with the spatial knowledge. After learning the facts, subjects were given a location-judgment test in which they had to decide whether an object was in one region of the space or another. Knowledge integration was assessed by comparing levels of performance in two conditions: (a) when a city or a building name was primed by a fact about a neighboring city or building, and (b) when a city or a building name was primed by a fact about a distant city or building. Results showed that responses in Condition a were faster or more accurate, or both faster and more accurate, than responses in Condition b. These results indicate that the spatial and nonspatial information were encoded in a common memory representation.     

Intimate partner support: A comparison of gay,lesbian, and heterosexual relationships

In this investigation, intimate partner support, relationship satisfaction, and separation proneness were assessed for four types of people: men in a relationship with a woman (MRW), men in a relationship with a man (MRM), women in a relationship with a man (WRM), and women in a relationship with a woman (WRW). Men and women in same‐sex relationships received more support, were more satisfied, and reported fewer thoughts of separating than their counterparts in opposite‐sex relationships. The effect of relationship type on satisfaction was not significant once the amount of received support was controlled. The implications of these findings for understanding the support process in same‐sex relationships are discussed.     

On the a priori and a posteriori assessment of probabilities

We argue that in spite of their apparent dissimilarity, the methodologies employed in the a priori and a posteriori assessment of probabilities can both be justified by appeal to a single principle of inductive reasoning, viz., the principle of symmetry. The difference between these two methodologies consists in the way in which information about the single-trial probabilities in a repeatable chance process is extracted from the constraints imposed by this principle. In the case of a posteriori reasoning, these constraints inform the analysis by fixing an a posteriori determinant of the probabilities, whereas, in the case of a priori reasoning, they imply certain claims which then serve as the basis for subsequent probabilistic deductions. In a given context of inquiry, the particular form which a priori or a posteriori reason may take depends, in large part, on the strength of the underlying symmetry assumed: the stronger the symmetry, the more information can be acquired a priori and the less information about the long-run behavior of the process is needed for an a posteriori assessment of the probabilities. In the context of this framework, frequency-based reasoning emerges as a limiting case of a posteriori reasoning, and reasoning about simple games of chance, as a limiting case of a priori reasoning. Between these two extremes, both a priori and a posteriori reasoning can take a variety of intermediate forms.     

Certain Effects of Mescaline and Lysergic Acid on Psychological Functions

An experiment was performed to determine whether or not changes in field dependence could be obtained under laboratory-produced stress conditions: i.e., body rotation. Two treatments and one control group were employed. Subjects in the first group were given the Rod and Frame Test; and, after a delay, they were spun and retested immediately after rotation (immediate-test group). Subjects in another group were given the Rod and Frame Test, were rotated ; and given the Rod and Frame Test after a delay of 10 minutes (delay-test group). Subjects in the control group were given the Rod and Frame Test and then given the Rod and Frame Test after a 15-minute delay. Subjects in both the immediate-test group and control group showed a decrease in field dependence, with the immediate-test group showing a slightly greater decrease than did the control group. Subjects in the delay-test group did not show a decrease in field dependence. Contrary to expectation, in no case was there a mean increase in field dependence. The results indicate the possibility of a normal decrease in field dependence with readministration of the Rod and Frame Test after a short lapse of time.     

Illusion decrement and transfer of illusion decrement in real- and subjective-contour Poggendorff figures

The reduction in illusion magnitude with visual inspection and the transfer of such illusion decrement to a noninspected figure were examined in real- and subjective-contour Poggendorff figures. For both types of figures, illusion magnitude decreased significantly, and in a similar manner, during a 5-min inspection period. Postinspection tests showed that inspecting either a real- or subjective-contour figure resulted in a reduction in illusion magnitude for the other, noninspected figure. These findings suggest that real- and subjective-contour Poggendorff figures share a similar global organization and are thus probably processed in a similar manner. These characteristics make subjective-contour figures a useful tool for separating illusion-producing mechanisms into structural and strategy components.     

Concurrent schedules: undermatching and control by previous experimental conditions.

Five pigeons were trained on concurrent variable-interval schedules. A series of conditions in which the ratio of reinforcement rates on two keys was progressively increased and then decreased was arranged twice. The birds were then exposed to an irregular sequence of conditions. Each condition in which reinforcement was available on both keys lasted six sessions. Performance in the first, third, and sixth sessions after a condition change was analyzed. Following a condition change, preference was biased toward the preference in the last condition, but this effect largely disappeared before the sixth session of training. The birds' preferences also appeared less sensitive to reinforcement rates in early sessions after a transition. Preference in a session was a function of both the reinforcements in that session and the reinforcements obtained in as many as four or five previous sessions. The effects of reinforcements in previous sessions could be summarized by the performance in the immediately preceding session, giving a relatively simple relation between present performance and a combination of present reinforcement and prior session performance. While such hysteresis could cause undermatching when only a small number of sessions are arranged in a condition, undermatching in a stable-state performance probably arises elsewhere.     

Promotion and prevention focus on alternative hypotheses: implications for attributional functions

Five studies examined hypothesis generation and discounting in causal attribution from the perspective of regulatory focus theory (E. T. Higgins, 1997, 1998). According to this theory, a promotion focus is associated with generating more and simultaneously endorsing multiple hypotheses, whereas a prevention focus is associated with generating only a few hypotheses and selecting 1 hypothesis from a given set. Five studies confirmed these predictions for both situationally induced and chronic individual differences in regulatory focus. In Studies 1, 2, and 3, individuals in a promotion focus generated more hypotheses than individuals in a prevention focus. In Studies 4 and 5, individuals in a promotion focus discounted explanations in light of alternatives less than individuals in a prevention focus. Study 5 also found that in a promotion focus, person explanations were generalized across situations less than in a prevention focus.     

Rethinking anthropology of Shari’a: contestation over the meanings and uses of Shari’a in South Sulawesi,Indonesia

This article explores the contestation over the meaning and uses of shari’a (Islamic Law) in South Sulawesi Indonesia. Its purpose is to shed light upon the importance and limits of shari’a discursive argumentation in Muslim life, and to examine how shari’a is used in contemporary sociocultural and political processes. The escalation of shari’a formalisation after democratization in Indonesia has widely gained scholarly attention. While the existing literature largely focuses on shari’a politics and the shari’a of the elites, this article focuses on the anthropology of the shari’a politics and the varied usage of shari’a in sociocultural processes across different social assemblages. The research was conducted in Bulukumba, a district divided by the initiative for the formalisation of shari’a at district level. The study reveals that Muslims engage and imagine the shari’a in strikingly different ways, many of which are not at all discursive in a manner consistent with fiqh or scholarly legal commentaries. Discursive argumentation is not the only source of authority in Islamic community. It is a point in a vast network of relationships. The experiences of ordinary Muslims in South Sulawesi illuminate that discursive argumentation can be a less direct and less explicit tool than ritualisation to resist shari’ahisation.     

Towards an integrated identity in counselling psychology: Graduate,professional and academic experiences

The paper is a reflective summary of my identity as a counselling psychologist. It discusses personal life, work and training experiences. The reason I would like to publish such a work is to encourage students in Greece, where the field of Counselling Psychology is less developed, to consider this kind of specialization, as well as to continuously enhance their professional identity, assimilating both practice and research opportunities, throughout their career paths. The paper focuses on three major influences in my development and training in the field: (a) graduate experiences as a doctoral student, writing a thesis on women's professional development, (b) work experiences in a career center of a large academic institution, and (c) academic and instructional experiences in a School of Psychology, where I teach and supervise research of both undergraduate and graduate students. The above influences delineate three separate, yet integrating identities: the identity of a feminist, the identity of a practitioner, and the identity of a researcher and instructor in the academia–that is, the identity of a scientist. My intention is to show how these three identities have been well integrated all these years, improving continuously my level of work in each and every dimension.     

Levinasian thoughts on witnessing: Forgiveness,guilt, and reconciliation

The Truth and Reconciliation Commissions that operated in South Africa in the mid-1990s represented an exceptional political effort to overcome the country’s intricate blood-stained history using a mechanism based on foundations of forgiveness in a Christian sense, public trial in a symbolic sense, and commissions of inquiry in a political and legal sense. These commissions constituted one of the most daring and impressive attempts in the history of world politics to transform the national social agenda and to facilitate a shared life for the different groups in South Africa. This article engages in a philosophical discussion of a few major aspects of these commissions via the prism of Levinasian philosophical thought and the philosophical and ethical meaning it assigns to the act of bearing witness.     

Improvements in problem behavior in a child with autism spectrum diagnosis through synthesized analysis and treatment: A replication in an EIBI home program

A recent study described a synthesized treatment where a functional analysis was based on an open‐ended interview and combined with functional communication and delay‐tolerance training. The treatment resulted in a reduction in problem behaviors and an increase in appropriate requests. Most of the analysis and intervention were done in a clinic setting, and required weekly visits by the family. This present study is a systematic replication, where we conducted the same synthesized treatments, with a young child with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) enrolled in a home‐based Early Intensive Behavior Intervention program, EIBI. Outcomes were similar with a marked reduction in problem behaviors and an increase in appropriate requests. These findings suggest that it is possible to conduct this intervention in a home setting, with weekly consultations with parents. Our study show the utility of the synthesized treatment in an EIBI program in a home setting and how this can contribute to client time and costs.     

Finding a face in a face-like object

Humans have the tendency to perceive a face even in a non-living object. Previous studies report that people perceive facial features and even interpret a personality in a car front. Following these findings, we investigated whether the perception of a face in a face-like object is mediated by human face processing, which involves both featural and configural processing. In our experiment, participants were presented with 30 face-like objects and were asked about the existence of facial features, the intensity of typicality/distinctiveness, and the intensity of facial expression. Using multiple regression analysis, which predicts the perception of a face in a face-like object, we found that the existence of eyes was a significant predictor of variance in perceiving a face in a face-like object.