Megachiropteran bats (Pteropus) utilize human referential stimuli to locate hidden food

Spontaneous point-following behavior has been considered an indicator of advanced social cognition unique to humans. Recently, it has been suggested that a close evolutionary relationship with humans could result in similar social skills in domesticated species. An alternative view is that the mechanism is not genetic domestication alone but instead a combination of phylogenetic and ontogenetic variables. Here we test the necessity of phylogenetic domestication by investigating the point-following behavior of a captive population of nondomesticated megachiropteran bats (Pteropus pumilus, Pteropus rodricensis, Pteropus conspicillatus, Pteropus vampyrus). Three of five subjects were highly successful in following an unfamiliar human's point to a target location, providing the first empirical evidence of cross-species social referencing in bats. The three successful bats were all born in captivity and socialized to humans early in life, whereas unsuccessful bats were wild-born individuals. This study provides evidence that referential point following is not restricted to domesticated animals and indicates that early experience may be important. Megachiropteran bats may prove to be a useful model for studying social behaviors.     

Intellectual ability in young men separated temporarily from their parents in childhood

We examined the effects of early life stress (ELS) on intellectual ability in 2,725 20-year-old male participants, of whom 321 were separated temporarily (mean 1.7 years) from both their parents during World War II, at an average age of 4.3 years. Intellectual ability was tested when entering compulsory military service. The separated men had − 0.28 (95% CI − 0.39, − 0.16), − 0.13 (95% CI − 0.25, − 0.01), − 0.18 (95% CI − 0.29, − 0.06), and − 0.19 (95% CI − 0.30, − 0.07) SD units lower verbal, visuospatial, arithmetic, and composite score of intellectual ability, respectively, compared to non-separated. Participants who were separated for more than a year and between two and four years had the lowest ability scores. ELS showed most consistent associations with verbal ability, but were not limited to it. Children beyond infancy and before their school-age may be the most vulnerable to the adverse effects of the ELS.     

The role of user resistance in the adoption of a mobile data service

While prior research has focused predominantly on enabling factors such as perceived usefulness in shaping users' information technology (IT) adoption/usage behaviors, this research explores the role of inhibiting factors such as user resistance to change, and their resultant impact on organizations' methods and systems. We elaborate on the interdependent and asymmetric effects of resistance to usage vis-à-vis usage enablers by postulating that resistance not only has a direct negative effect on IT usage, but also biases enabling factors such as perceived usefulness and intention to use in a negative manner. The resulting model is empirically validated with a longitudinal survey of mobile data service that supports real estate title claim processing by administrators and staff personnel at an Eastern European governmental agency. Our study advances IT usage research by demonstrating the salience of previously ignored inhibiting factors, establishing user resistance as an important construct to consider in IT usage research, and by elaborating the nomological relationships between resistance and current predictors of IT usage. We expect that these findings will provide the basis for a more comprehensive investigation of IT usage inhibitors and for building a theoretical model of user resistance.     

Latency‐based functional analysis in schools: Correspondence and differences across environments

Functional analyses were conducted for problem behavior of three girls with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Analyses conducted under analog conditions measured rate and latency. Latency‐based functional analyses were conducted in a classroom setting in multielement and reversal designs. Correspondence was identified between the standard functional analysis and the two latency analyses for one participant. Partial correspondence was found with the other two participants. These results are discussed in light of research on adaptions for functional analysis in classroom settings.     

When the "I" looks at the "Me": autobiographical memory, visual perspective, and the self

This article presents a theoretical model of the self processes involved in autobiographical memories and proposes competing hypotheses for the role of visual perspective in autobiographical memory retrieval. Autobiographical memories can be retrieved from either the 1st person perspective, in which individuals see the event through their own eyes, or from the 3rd person perspective, in which individuals see themselves and the event from the perspective of an external observer. A growing body of research suggests that the visual perspective from which a memory is retrieved has important implications for a person’s thoughts, feelings, and goals, and is integrally related to a host of self-evaluative processes. We review the relevant research literature, present our theoretical model, and outline directions for future research.     

Lexical and sublexical processes in the perception of transposed-letter anagrams

Evidence from priming and lexical decision tasks suggests that nonwords created by transposing adjacent letter pairs (TL nonwords) are very effective in activating lexical representations of their base words, because the process of orthographic matching tolerates minor changes in letter position. However, this account disregards the possible role of sublexical processing in reading. TL nonwords are perceptually ambiguous, with lexical and sublexical processing giving rise to conflicting interpretations. The consequences of this ambiguity were investigated in a lexical decision experiment with primes that were either high or low bigram frequency TL versions of target words. Priming effects were much larger for low BF primes (e.g., pucnh-PUNCH) than for high BF primes (e.g., panit-PAINT). This finding is interpreted as evidence that lexical activation can be inhibited by competing output resulting from sublexical processing of TL letter string. We conclude that phonological processing is an important determinant of responses to TL stimuli, and we consider how this interpretation might be accommodated within the dual-route cascaded (DRC) model of word recognition.     

The automaticity of emotion recognition

Evolutionary accounts of emotion typically assume that humans evolved to quickly and efficiently recognize emotion expressions because these expressions convey fitness-enhancing messages. The present research tested this assumption in 2 studies. Specifically, the authors examined (a) how quickly perceivers could recognize expressions of anger, contempt, disgust, embarrassment, fear, happiness, pride, sadness, shame, and surprise; (b) whether accuracy is improved when perceivers deliberate about each expression's meaning (vs. respond as quickly as possible); and (c) whether accurate recognition can occur under cognitive load. Across both studies, perceivers quickly and efficiently (i.e., under cognitive load) recognized most emotion expressions, including the self-conscious emotions of pride, embarrassment, and shame. Deliberation improved accuracy in some cases, but these improvements were relatively small. Discussion focuses on the implications of these findings for the cognitive processes underlying emotion recognition.     

Is “Generation Me” Really More Narcissistic Than Previous Generations?

ABSTRACT In this commentary, we identify several methodological and conceptual issues that undermine Twenge, Konrath, Foster, Campbell, and Bushman's (this issue) claim that narcissism levels have been rising over the past few decades. Specifically, we discuss (a) the limitations of convenience samples for making inferences about generational differences, (b) our failure to replicate other cross-temporal meta-analytic findings using data from a nationally representative sample, and (c) issues surrounding the interpretation of the Narcissistic Personality Inventory. It is important to consider these issues given the extensive media coverage of Twenge et al.'s claim that today's youth are particularly narcissistic, which has wide-ranging implications for how this generation of young adults views itself and is viewed by society at large.