Impulsive choice and altruistic punishment are correlated and increase in tandem with serotonin depletion

Human cooperation may partly depend on the presence of individuals willing to incur personal costs to punish noncooperators. The psychological factors that motivate such 'altruistic punishment' are not fully understood; some have argued that altruistic punishment is a deliberate act of norm enforcement that requires self-control, while others claim that it is an impulsive act driven primarily by emotion. In the current study, we addressed this question by examining the relationship between impulsive choice and altruistic punishment in the ultimatum game. As the neurotransmitter serotonin has been implicated in both impulsive choice and altruistic punishment, we investigated the effects of manipulating serotonin on both measures. Across individuals, impulsive choice and altruistic punishment were correlated and increased following serotonin depletion. These findings imply that altruistic punishment reflects the absence rather than the presence of self control, and suggest that impulsive choice and altruistic punishment share common neural mechanisms.     

A prospective test of cognitive vulnerability models of depression with adolescent girls

This study sought to provide a more rigorous prospective test of two cognitive vulnerability models of depression with longitudinal data from 496 adolescent girls. Results supported the cognitive vulnerability model in that stressors predicted future increases in depressive symptoms and onset of clinically significant major depression for individuals with a negative attributional style, but not for those with a positive attributional style, although these effects were small. This model appeared to be specific to depression, in that it did not predict future increases in bulimia nervosa or substance abuse symptoms. In contrast, results did not support the integrated cognitive vulnerability self-esteem model that asserts stressors should only predict increased depression for individuals with a confluence of negative attributional style and low self-esteem, and this model did not appear to be specific to depression.     

Learning by looking: Infants' social looking behavior across the transition from crawling to walking

This study investigated how infants gather information about their environment through looking and how that changes with increases in motor skills. In Experiment 1, 9.5- and 14-month-olds participated in a 10-min free play session with both a stranger and ambiguous toys present. There was a significant developmental progression from passive to active social engagement, as evidenced by younger infants watching others communicate more and older infants making more bids for social interaction. Experiment 2 examined longitudinally the impact of age and walking onset on this progression. The transition to independent walking marked significant changes in how often infants watched others communicate and made active bids for social interaction. Results suggest that infants transition from passive observers as crawlers to active participants in their social environment with the onset of walking.     

Mothers' Parenting and Young Economically Disadvantaged Children's Relational and Overt Bullying

We examined links between mothers' parenting and children's relational bullying and overt bullying in a sample of children attending a Head Start program. Mothers completed surveys and face-to-face interviews. Head Start teachers completed assessments on children. Results indicated that a small percentage of children in the sample was rated by teachers as engaging in relational bullying “frequently to almost always,” and slightly over half of the sample was rated by teachers as engaging in relational bullying “occasionally to about half of the time.” Similar results were found for the frequency with which children engaged in overt physical bullying. Regarding mothers' parenting, maternal empathy was most strongly correlated with both children's relational bullying and overt physical bullying. In addition, mothers' inappropriate developmental expectations for children and mothers' need to exert power over children rather than grant them independence were related to children's relational bullying. A composite variable for mothering predicted 11% of the variance in children's relational bullying. No gender differences were found for children's relational bullying and children's overt bullying.     

Thinking of Others: Feminist Identification and the Perception of Others’ Beliefs

Previous research has shown that most women in the United States support feminist goals but do not label themselves as feminists. Concern over other people’s opinions of feminists may predict rejection of the feminist label. In the present study we predicted that feminists would be more likely than non-feminists to believe that other people view feminists favorably. One hundred seventy-one female participants completed the Berryman-Fink Semantic Differential Scale twice, once to indicate how they view feminists and again to indicate how they believe others view feminists. Contrary to our hypothesis, all women, regardless of feminist identification, believed that others view feminists negatively and as more likely to be homosexual than heterosexual. Relationships between participants’ own views of feminists and their perceptions of others’ views of feminists were explored. Transformative experiences that may lead a feminist to ignore their perception of society’s views are discussed.     

Age-related differences in responses to thoughts of one's own death: mortality salience and judgments of moral transgressions

Two experiments explored age differences in response to reminders of death. Terror management research has shown that death reminders lead to increased adherence to and defense of one's cultural worldview. In Study 1, the effect of mortality salience (MS) on evaluations of moral transgressions made by younger and older adults was compared. Whereas younger adults showed the typical pattern of harsher judgments in response to MS, older adults did not. Study 2 compared younger and older adults' responses to both the typical MS induction and a more subtle death reminder. Whereas younger adults responded to both MS inductions with harsher evaluations, older adults made significantly less harsh evaluations after the subtle MS induction. Explanations for this developmental shift in responses to reminders of death are discussed.     

Phenomenology of Early Childhood Onset Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

This paper describes the phenomenological features of early childhood onset obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD; defined as children meeting DSM-IV criteria for OCD with age of onset <8 years). Fifty-eight children (ages 4–8) were included in the sample. OCD and comorbid diagnoses were determined by structured interview, and OCD severity was measured using the Children’s Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale (CY-BOCS). Mean age of OCD onset was almost five, and mean age of presentation was between 6 and 7. Mean symptom severity was in the moderately severe range. Comorbidity and family history of OCD were common. Contamination and aggressive/catastrophic obsessions and washing and checking compulsions were endorsed most frequently. Results indicate that early childhood onset OCD may have a lower boy to girl ratio and lower rates of depressive disorders, but may be similar to later childhood onset OCD in terms of OCD symptom presentation and severity.     

Interactive effects of deprivation in the albino rat

The interactive effects of feeding and drinking schedules were investigated in three experiments. Twenty-four hour water-deprived rats consumed their entire obligatory water intake prior to feeding, whereas 24-hr food-deprived rats consumed only small quantities of food prior to drinking. This drinking was apparently due to a shift of water stores rather than an actual negative water balance. Experiment 3 investigated the effects of 24, 48, or 72 hr of water, food, or total deprivation. Water-deprived rats did not adequately suppress food intake and became thirstier than totally deprived rats. The effects of total deprivation were essentially identical to those of food deprivation. These experiments indicate the degree to which deprivation schedules impose restrictions on the reinforcement parameters of behavioral experiments.     

The role of sex and personality in the prenegotiation stage of coalition formation

Research in the area of sex differences in coalitional behavior has produced inconsistent results that may be partially resolved through an examination of personality and attitudinal differences between males and females. The responses of males and females to the Shure and Meeker Personality/Attitude Schedule were analyzed and the sexes differed in their elevation on six major factors. A subsample of each sex participated in a coalition game situation. Four of the six personality and attitude factors were related to prenegotiation stage indices of coalition formation. It was suggested that the role of sex differences in coalitional behavior may be mediated by sex role socialization differences.