Working and reference memory of pigs (Sus scrofa domesticus) in a holeboard spatial discrimination task: the influence of environmental enrichment

Interest in cognitive research in pigs is increasing, but little is known about the impact of environmental conditions on pigs’ cognitive capabilities. The present study investigated the effect of environmental enrichment on cognitive performance of pigs in a holeboard spatial task, in which they had to discriminate four baited buckets out of 16. Pigs (n = 32) were either housed in stimulus-poor, barren pens, or in larger pens enriched with rooting substrates. Pigs were subjected to 30 holeboard trials. Both working memory (WM), that is, the ratio (baited visits/total number of (re)visits to baited buckets), and reference memory (RM), that is, the ratio ((re)visits to baited buckets/total number of visits to all buckets), improved over trials. WM scores were higher in pigs from enriched pens than in pigs from barren pens. Housing did not affect RM scores. Personality type of the pigs, as assessed early in life using a backtest, did not affect WM or RM. In conclusion, housing conditions of pigs did not affect reference memory, but environmental enrichment improved working memory of pigs in a spatial discrimination task. Based on the findings of this study, we suggest that cognitive functioning of pigs may be impaired under commonly used housing conditions.     

Do Narrative Engagement and Recipients’ Thoughts Explain the Impact of an Entertainment-Education Narrative on Discouraging Binge Drinking?

Previous research suggests that narrative engagement (NE) in entertainment-education (E-E) narratives reduces counterarguing, thereby leading to E-E impact on behavior. It is, however, unclear how different NE processes (narrative understanding, attentional focus, emotional engagement, narrative presence) relate to different thought types (negative or positive; about the narrative form or about the target behavior) and to E-E impact. This study explores these relations in the context of alcohol binge drinking (BD). Participants (N = 172) watched an E-E narrative showing negative BD consequences, thereby aiming to discourage BD. The main findings were that the E-E narrative had a positive impact on discouraging BD on almost all assessed BD determinants such as beliefs and attitude. It was shown that attentional focus, emotional engagement, and narrative presence were associated with BD-discouraging impact, albeit on different BD-related determinants. No evidence was found that negative thoughts about BD mediated these associations. From this, we conclude that attentional focus, emotional engagement, and narrative presence were important for E-E impact but that negative thoughts about BD did not play a role therein. The study’s empirical and practical implications are discussed.     

No body is perfect: the significance of habitual negative thinking about appearance for body dissatisfaction, eating disorder propensity, self-esteem and snacking

Thinking negatively about one's appearance may be a major source of unhappiness. It was investigated whether the habitual quality of negative body image thinking constitutes an additional vulnerability factor, i.e. when such thinking is repetitive and automatic. The cognitive content of negative body image thinking ('what') was distinguished from the habitual occurrence of such thinking ('how'). The mental habit component uniquely predicted explicit as well as implicit body dissatisfaction (the latter measured by an implicit association test) over and above cognitive content. Mental habit also accounted for eating disturbance propensity, low self-esteem and restrained snacking behaviour over and above cognitive content, even when controlled for body dissatisfaction. The habitual component of negative thinking about appearance thus seems a significant body image construct, has discriminant validity against body dissatisfaction, and constitutes a vulnerability factor for feelings of low self-worth and eating disturbance propensity. Implications for intervention strategies, such as mindfulness-based approaches, are discussed.     

Inhibition of return in single and dual tasks: examining saccadic, keypress, and pointing responses

Two experiments are reported in which inhibition of return (IOR)was examined wit h single-responsetasks (either manual responses alone or saccadic responses alone) and dual-response tasks (simultaneous manual and saccadic responses). The first experiment-using guided limb movements that require considerable spatial information-showed more IOR for saccades than for pointing responses. In addition, saccadic IOR was reduced with concurrent pointing movements, but manual IOR was not affected by concurrent saccades. Importantly, at the time of saccade initiation, the arm movements did not start yet, indicating that the influence on saccade IOR is due to arm-movement preparation. In the second experiment, using localization keypress responses that required only minimal spatial information, greater IOR was again found for saccadic than for manual responses, but no effect of concurrent movements was found. These findings add further support that there is a dissociation between oculomotor and skeletal-motor IOR. Moreover, the results show that the preparation manual responses tend to mediate saccadic behavior-but only when the manual responses require high levels of spatial accuracy-and that the superior colliculus is the likely neural substrate integrating IOR for eye and arm movements.     

Reflections on Past Behavior: A Self‐Report Index of Habit Strength1

We argue that habit is a psychological construct, rather than simply past behavioral frequency. In 4 studies, a 12‐item index of habit strength (the Self‐Report Habit Index, SRHI) was developed on the basis of features of habit; that is, a history of repetition, automaticity (lack of control and awareness, efficiency), and expressing identity. High internal and test‐retest reliabilities were found. The SRHI correlated strongly with past behavioral frequency and the response frequency measure of habit (Verplanken, Aarts, van Knippenberg, & van Knippenberg, 1994). The index discriminated between behaviors varying in frequency, and also between daily vs. weekly habits. The SRHI may be useful as a dependent variable, or to determine or monitor habit strength without measuring behavioral frequency.     

Consumption experience of impulse buying in Indonesia: Emotional arousal and hedonistic considerations

Two studies focused on impulsive purchase experiences. Feelings, considerations and ratings of purchase impulsiveness were measured with respect to a recent purchase by means of interviews immediately after the purchase in the shopping environment (Study 1) and through shopping diaries (Study 2). Feelings and considerations were measured by open-ended questions, which yielded a wide range of responses in each category. These responses were subjected to multidimensional scaling. The results demonstrated a high versus low arousal dimension of positive emotions and a hedonic versus utilitarian dimension of considerations. Emotions and considerations were predicted by general impulse-buying tendency, and were related to the experience of impulsive purchases. In Study 2, impulse buying tendency was measured 2 months earlier. Structural equation modelling confirmed a model in which general impulse buying tendency predicts the feelings and considerations in the purchase environment, which in turn, determine the experience of making an impulsive purchase.     

The perils of Perrin,in the hands of philosophers

The story of how Perrin’s experimental work established the reality of atoms and molecules has been a staple in (realist) philosophy of science writings (Wesley Salmon, Clark Glymour, Peter Achinstein, Penelope Maddy, …). I’ll argue that how this story is told distorts both what the work was and its significance, and draw morals for the understanding of how theories can be or fail to be empirically grounded.

Different selves,different values: Effects of self‐construals on value activation and use

Three experiments demonstrated structural properties and dynamic effects of self‐construal on the processing and use of values. In Study 1, it was found that self‐focus during encoding caused spontaneous cognitive clustering of individualistic versus relational values. Study 2 demonstrated that self‐construal affected the implicit weight of a value‐related attribute in a multi‐attribute choice task. In Study 3, behavioral intentions were better predicted by personal values than social norms when the personal self was primed, whereas social norms predicted better when the collective self was primed. The effects of manipulated self‐construal were mimicked when comparing participants with an individualistic versus collectivistic cultural background. No interaction was found between priming and cultural background. Taken together, the studies demonstrated that different domains of the self are associated with different values, which may instigate different cognitive and behavioral processes when activated. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Shafer on conditional probability

Journal of Philosophical Logic -