Foraging and associative learning of visual signals in a parasitic wasp

To cope with environmental variability, animals should gather and use information to reduce uncertainty. In insect parasitoids, associative learning has been widely documented in the context of host foraging. However, despite its potential adaptive value, the insect food searching strategy and cues used to search are poorly understood. In this study, we examined the ability of hymenopteran Venturia canescens females to associate food to a visual cue. To broaden the scope of our results, experiments were performed with both arrhenotokous (sexual) and thelytokous (asexual) individuals. The wasps showed innate attraction for yellow and orange stimuli when presented versus blue stimuli. When trained to associate a food reward with one of the attractive colours (orange), they significantly moved from a distance towards the colour previously associated with food. The choice of the innately preferred colour (yellow) was not modified by associative learning. In the context of food foraging, this study is the first to show associative learning using visual stimuli in a parasitoid and active choice of this colour. This ability gives new insights concerning potential food sources for V. canescens in the field, since flowers are sugar sources, which emit colour signals.     

AIDS‐NGOs and political participation: Brazilian and Canadian experiences

Non‐governmental organizations (AIDS‐NGO) are an instrument of political pressure and assistance, often serving as a life reconstruction aid for people living with HIV/AIDS. In this case study, we analyze data from historical documents, in‐depth interviews, and questionnaires obtained from participants and community agents in two AIDS‐NGOs: one in Canada (NGO‐Ca), and another in Brazil (NGO‐Br). Despite contextual differences, both NGOs are involved in a fight against stigma and discrimination that may aggravate existing social exclusion. Variances in political participation are nevertheless evident. In NGO‐Ca, efforts are directed towards maintaining and consolidating human and social rights. In NGO‐Br, the primary goal is building these. In NGO‐Ca, the participant is part of a structured organization where he or she receives the required supports; the NGO is thus a service provider. Conversely, in NGO‐Br, the participant is both the actor and author of collectively constructed supportive actions. It is hoped that the lessons learned from this limited case study will assist in the strengthening of AIDS‐NGO organization and activity, particularly in the developing world context. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Initial models in conditionals: evidence from priming

We examined the comprehension of different types of conditionals. We measured the reading time of sentences primed by different types of conditionals (Experiments 1 and 2). We found that the participants read not-p and not-q faster when it was primed by the conditional form p if q and they were slower to read p and q when it was primed by the conditional form p only if q. This effect disappeared in the second experiment, where the order of the elements was reversed (q and p and not-q and not-p). These results suggest that the conditional form p if q elicits an initial representation "from p to q" with two possibilities, while the conditional form p only if q elicits a reverse representation with only one possibility. The third experiment showed that there were effects of the order only for the conditional if p then q, which confirms the reverse representation hypothesis. We discuss the implications of these results for different theories of conditional comprehension.     

Universal Biology Does Not Prescribe Planetary Isolationism

Stephen Hawking’s caution against messaging extraterrestrial intelligence is a claim of universal biology and is probably false.     

Development of the Spanish short version of Negative Attitudes Toward Masturbation Inventory

Background/Objective: Masturbation has historically been a sexual behaviour associated with negative connotations, as a consequence of traditional orthodox positions, despite its positive impact on health. The instruments developed to measure the attitude towards masturbation are scarce, and none of them have been validated in the Spanish adult population. This study aims to propose a short version of the Negative Attitudes Toward Masturbation Inventory (NATMI) and examine their psychometric properties (reliability and evidence of validity) in the Spanish adult population. Method: A total of 4,116 heterosexual adults aged 18-83 years (M = 40.58; SD = 12.24; 54.64% women) participated in the study. In addition to the NATMI, they answered other scales to assess sexual attitudes, sexual desire, propensity to become sexually excited/inhibited and sexual functioning. Results: Analysis of the construct validity of the NATMI resulted in a reduced version of ten items grouped into a single factor explaining 66% of the variance (ordinal alpha = .95). The evidence of validity is clear, as subjects with negative and positive attitude towards masturbation differed in religiousness, frequency of masturbation, erotophilia, positive attitude towards sexual fantasies, sexual inhibition and sexual functioning. Conclusions: The Spanish short version of NATMI provides reliable and valid measures in the Spanish adult population.