Age-based discrimination of rival males in western bluebirds

Adaptive social behavior frequently involves discriminating between classes of individuals such as relatives versus non-relatives, older versus younger individuals, or individuals of different status. In the absence of spatial cues, this discrimination may be based on signals that correlate with fitness-related traits (e.g., older or high-status males may sing higher performance songs) or with identity, for example, when receivers distinguish and classify signalers based on their unique signal structure. Here, we examine vocal age-based discrimination in western bluebirds (Sialia mexicana), a North American songbird in which older males have a significant advantage in obtaining extra-pair fertilizations, and therefore pose a significantly higher threat to paternity than younger males. We asked whether western bluebird males showed a higher response to playback of songs of older males compared to younger males relative to their own age. We prepared song stimuli by removing three potential signals of age that have been identified as important in other species: (1) note consistency (which was achieved by playing a single instance of each note repeatedly), (2) note repertoire size, and (3) singing rate (the latter two were equalized across conditions). Even in the absence of these potential signals of age, young males responded more strongly to playback of older males’ songs than to young males’ songs, suggesting that they are able to discriminate between age classes relative to the threat they pose. Further research is required to determine whether this discrimination is based on individual recognition or signal features that are correlated with age.     

Impact of parental psychopathology: Diagnosis,severity, or social status effects?

Children with mothers who had a variety of psychiatric disturbances were studied in a longitudinal investigation from birth to four years of age. The children were assessed for cognitive and social-emotional functioning at each age and the scores related to maternal characteristics. The results were that specific maternal diagnoses of schizophrenia, neurotic depression, and personality disorder had few unique effects on child performance. Social status was the most important factor affecting cognitive development. The severity of the mother's disturbance was the most important factor affecting the child's social-emotional competence.     

Proactive Vitality Management and Creative Work Performance: The Role of Self-Insight and Social Support

Integrating proactivity and creativity literatures, we argue that people can perform more creatively at work when they proactively manage their levels of vitality. Proactive vitality management is defined as individual, goal-oriented behavior aimed at managing physical and mental energy to promote optimal functioning at work. We hypothesize that this process may be facilitated by being aware of one's own state and by support from others. A total of 242 employees participated in a weekly diary study for three consecutive weeks, yielding 610 observations. Results of multilevel analyses show that participants reported more creative work performance during weeks in which they had proactively used vitality management. In addition, in line with our predictions, self-insight and social support for creativity in the workplace acted as cross-level moderators and strengthened the relationship between proactive vitality management and creativity. We conclude that a proactive approach regarding physical and mental energy is an important bottom-up strategy that may foster creativity in work settings.     

Theology in a Dynamic Universe

According to recent astrophysical evidence, the present universe has been forming for the past 14 billion years. New kinds of objects have emerged even recently. The reverse side of this creativity is the observed and predicted decay of all objects. Will new structures form in the future? This is a question of hope, which is not a scientific term but originates from experience on the level of personal and religious perceptions requiring participation. Anticipating the future, science and theology of creation meet, and the tension between practical knowledge and visionary hope enters a constructive dialogue.     

Accentuate the Negative: Social Images in the Prediction and Promotion of Condom Use1

Based on the negativity bias in person perception, we argue that behavioral decisions related to condom use are influenced by the social images that an individual has of people who do not use condoms, but that they are not influenced by the social images that an individual has of people who do use condoms. Three studies with college student samples indicated that the negative evaluations of people who do not use condoms predicts willingness to have sex without condoms. In contrast, positive evaluations of people who do use condoms showed no unique predictions. A fourth study demonstrated that a health message emphasizing the negative social consequences of having sex without condoms decreased willingness to have unsafe sex in comparison to a control, whereas a message that emphasized the positive social consequences of using condoms had no such effects on willingness.     

Parent Cognitions as Predictors of Child Treatment Response in Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder

Using a subsample of 105 children and their parents (100 mothers, 57 fathers) from the Multimodal Treatment Study of Children with ADHD (the MTA), the value of parents' baseline cognitions as predictors of children's treatment outcome at 14 months was examined. Measures of parents' cognitions about themselves, their ADHD children, and their parenting, as well as a self-report measure of dysfunctional discipline were included. Both mothers' and fathers' self-reported use of dysfunctional discipline predicted worse child treatment outcome. Low self-esteem in mothers, low parenting efficacy in fathers, and fathers' attributions of noncompliance to their ADHD child's insufficient effort and bad mood also were associated with worse child treatment outcome. All of these predictive relations were obtained even after MTA treatment effects had been taken into account. Secondary analyses indicated that mothers had a more external locus of control, lower self-esteem, lower parenting efficacy, and a greater tendency to attribute noncompliance to their ADHD child's bad mood than did fathers.     

Self-concept certainty, career exploration and readiness for career decision-making amongst undergraduate students

The hypotheses that (a) career exploration would lead to a more certain self-concept, and (b) a more certain self-concept would lead to readiness for career decision-making, were tested over a ten-week period with 35 undergraduate students. The results supported the first hypothesis. But they did not support the second, and in fact it seemed that high self-concept certainty carried the danger of inflexibility in career decision-making.     

Tales of the Unexpected: Surprises Experienced by Graduates in the Early Months of Employment

Although newcomers to work organisations attempt to anticipate what will happen to them, there are often unexpected events and perceptions which can have a major impact. These surprises are an important aspect of their experiences. The incidence and nature of surprises experienced by 104 graduates in their first few months of employment, and the role of surprises in making sense of the new work environment, are explored. The general atmosphere at work was the most commonly reported source of surprise, whilst the nature of the work and the respondents' own feelings and reactions were least commonly reported as surprising. However, these latter two sources of surprise were relatively frequently reported as sources of graduates' single most surprising experience. Illustrations are given of the role of surprise in adjustment to work, and the results are discussed with particular reference to their implications for careers counselling.     

The Power War: Male Response to Power Loss Under Equality

As many authors have pointed out, the relationship between the sexes is based on power, males having greater power than females. The continuing demand by women for equality is actually a demand for equal power, and if these strivings are successful, they will mean a loss of power for men. The male response to this anticipated power loss is the focus of this analysis. First, the scope of male power is described. Second, the importance of power to men is analyzed in terms of the male sex-role stereotype and the metamorphic effects of power use (Kipnis, 1976). Third, some likely responses of men to a loss of power are hypothesized. Finally, some suggestions for future research are outlined.     

Early social experience and responses to visual social stimuli in young monkeys

Juvenile stumptailed macaques (Macaca arctoides) were given preference tests in which they could approach an empty chamber, a mirror, a familiar conspecific, or an unfamiliar conspecific. Control subjects tended to withdraw from the mirror, and threatened the stranger more than did monkeys whose early social experience had occurred exclusively in darkness. Both groups explored the familiar stimulus animal most of all, but the group socialized in the dark showed most positive behavior when in the empty chamber. In a second study peer-reared infants responded more appropriately to slides of conspecifics than did infants reared with a mirror as the main source of social input. Infants reared only with a peer were also strongly attracted to a mirror, whereas infants reared only with mirrors preferred a film of an unfamiliar agemate. The results suggest that early visual social stimulation is important in the development of aggression and other social behaviors, and that novelty and complexity are important aspects of social stimuli that interact with effects of early experience. Study 2 was conducted while the first author was in receipt of a Postgraduate Research Studentship from the U.K. Science Research Council. The DTU tapes were analyzed using a computer program developed with the help of SRC grant B/RG 98910 to A. Chamove. This latter grant also supported the study from which the preference test data were taken.