Inferential reasoning by exclusion in pigeons, dogs, and humans

The ability to reason by exclusion (which is defined as the selection of the correct alternative by logically excluding other potential alternatives; Call in Anim Cogn 9:393–403 2006) is well established in humans. Several studies have found it to be present in some nonhuman species as well, whereas it seems to be somewhat limited or even absent in others. As inconsistent methodology might have contributed to the revealed inter-species differences, we examined reasoning by exclusion in pigeons (n = 6), dogs (n = 6), students (n = 6), and children (n = 8) under almost equal experimental conditions. After being trained in a computer-controlled two-choice procedure to discriminate between four positive (S+) and four negative (S−) photographs, the subjects were tested with displays consisting of one S− and one of four novel stimuli (S′). One pigeon, half of the dogs and almost all humans preferred S′ over S−, thereby choosing either by novelty, or by avoiding S− without acquiring any knowledge about S′, or by inferring positive class membership of S′ by excluding S−. To decide among these strategies the subjects that showed a preference for S′ were then tested with displays consisting of one of the S′ and one of four novel stimuli (S′′). Although the pigeon preferentially chose the S′′ and by novelty, dogs and humans maintained their preference for S′, thereby showing evidence of reasoning by exclusion. Taken together, the results of the present study suggest that none of the pigeons, but half of the dogs and almost all humans inferred positive class membership of S′ by logically excluding S−. Electronic supplementary material  The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

No difference between conscious and nonconscious visuomotor control: evidence from perceptual learning in the masked prime task

Negative compatibility effects (NCEs) in the masked-prime paradigm are usually obtained when primes are masked effectively. With ineffective masks-and primes above the perceptual threshold-positive compatibility effects (PCEs) occur. We investigated whether this pattern reflects a causal relationship between conscious awareness and low-level motor control, or whether it reflects the fact that both are affected in the same way by changes in physical stimulus attributes. In a 5-session perceptual learning task, participants learned to consciously identify masked primes. However, they showed unaltered NCEs that were not different from those produced by participants in a control group without equivalent perceptual learning. A control experiment demonstrated that no NCEs occur when prime identification is made possible by ineffective masking. The results suggest that perceptual awareness and low-level motor control are affected by the same factors, but are fundamentally independent of each other.     

When, what, and whom to watch? Quantifying attention in ravens (Corvus corax) and jackdaws (Corvus monedula)

Complex social life requires monitoring of conspecifics. The amount and focus of attention toward others has been suggested to depend on the social relationships between individuals. Yet there are surprisingly few experiments that have tested these assumptions. This study compared attention patterns toward conspecifics in two corvid species, ravens (Corvus corax) and jackdaws (Corvus monedula). Birds were confronted with affiliated and non-affiliated conspecifics engaged in foraging and object manipulation. Visual access to the model bird was provided through two observation holes, which allowed measurement of exactly how often and for how long observers watched the other. Overall, ravens were more attentive to conspecifics than were jackdaws. Moreover, only ravens showed higher interest toward food-related than object-related behaviors of the model and toward close affiliates than non-affiliates by increasing the duration rather than the frequency of looks. These results are in accordance with predictions derived from the species' foraging biology and suggest that the facultative social, but highly manipulative, ravens use and value information from others differently than do the obligate social jackdaws.     

The Escape Theory of Suicide in College Students: Testing a Model That Includes Perfectionism

A model of the escape theory of suicide was tested, using the following measures: the Life Experiences Survey, the Socially Prescribed Perfectionism subscale, the Self-Rating Depression Scale, the Hopelessness Scale, the Reasons for Living Inventory, and the Scale for Suicide Ideation. College students (N = 114) completed all of these measures, and results were correlated. LISREL path analysis failed to validate the proposed model. All proposed paths were significant, except for the reciprocal path proposed between negative life events and socially prescribed perfectionism. Two residual paths were also significant: from socially prescribed perfectionism to suicide ideation, and from hopelessness to suicide ideation. A revised model constructed from these significant paths had a good overall fit, which suggests that an interactional model is more appropriate than a linear one.     

Side effects of gender‐fair language: How feminine job titles influence the evaluation of female applicants

In many languages, feminization has been used as a strategy to make language more gender‐fair, because masculine terms, even in a generic function, exhibit a male bias. Up to date, little is known about possible side effects of this language use, for example, in personnel selection. In three studies, conducted in Polish, we analyzed how a female applicant was evaluated in a recruitment process, depending on whether she was introduced with a feminine or masculine job title. To avoid influences from existing occupations and terms, we used fictitious job titles in Studies 1 and 2: diarolo?ka (feminine) and diarolog (masculine). In Study 3, we referred to existing occupations that varied in gender stereotypicality. In all studies, female applicants with a feminine job title were evaluated less favorably than both a male applicant (Study 1) and a female applicant with a masculine job title (Studies 1, 2, and 3). This effect was independent of the gender stereotypicality of the occupation (Study 3). Participants' political attitudes, however, moderated the effect: Conservatives devaluated female applicants with a feminine title more than liberals (Studies 2 and 3). Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

For the Love of God: Finding Support in the Church-Community: a Case Study from China

Abstract

Based on fieldwork in a Protestant church in Guangzhou, this article discusses the emergence of a new collective in urban China: the church-community. Offering various tangible and intangible forms of support, the church attracts people for various reasons, but especially those who have been left most vulnerable by the socio-economic transformations. Churchgoers form a spiritual and physical community through ritual practice and good deeds that are conceived of as ‘free gifts’. This community is importantly defined as a realm outside both ‘traditional’ notions of reciprocity and China's present-day consumer ideology. It thus provides believers with an alternative source or realm of moral authority as well as a sense of security.     

Look who's talking! Facial appearance can bias source monitoring

When we see a stranger's face we quickly form impressions of his or her personality, and expectations of how the stranger might behave. Might these intuitive character judgements bias source monitoring? Participants read headlines “reported” by a trustworthy- and an untrustworthy-looking reporter. Subsequently, participants recalled which reporter provided each headline. Source memory for likely-sounding headlines was most accurate when a trustworthy-looking reporter had provided the headlines. Conversely, source memory for unlikely-sounding headlines was most accurate when an untrustworthy-looking reporter had provided the headlines. This bias appeared to be driven by the use of decision criteria during retrieval rather than differences in memory encoding. Nevertheless, the bias was apparently unrelated to variations in subjective confidence. These results show for the first time that intuitive, stereotyped judgements of others' appearance can bias memory attributions analogously to the biases that occur when people receive explicit information to distinguish sources. We suggest possible real-life consequences of these stereotype-driven source-monitoring biases.     

Reply to lokhandwala and westefeld

Abstract

Lokhandwala and Westefeld's article highlighting the ethical dilemma in rational suicide raises the pragmatic question of how one would actually assess a client's situation. A particularly relevant diagnosis that should be ruled out is clinical depression. The DSM-IV lists nine symptoms of major depressive disorder, eight of which could easily be masked as symptoms of the physical illness or side effects of treatment. These symptoms can be grouped into three categories: central features of depression, physical signs of depression, and cognitive signs of depression. All three of these categories, particularly physical signs, could easily be mistaken for medical problems. Reviewing the nine criteria for a diagnosis of clinical depression might be a good way to explore the possibility of clinical depression in a terminally ill person who is supposedly making a “rational” decision to commit suicide.     

A neural network model of inhibitory processes in subliminal priming

Masked priming experiments have revealed a precise set of facilitatory and inhibitory visuomotor control processes. Most notably, inhibitory effects have been identified in which prime-target compatibility induces performance costs and prime-target incompatibility induces performance benefits. We argue that this profile of data is commensurate with an “emergency braking mechanism”, whereby responses can be retracted as a result of changing sensory evidence. The main contribution of this paper is to provide a neural network-based explanation of this phenomenon. This is obtained through the use of feedforward inhibition to implement backward masking, lateral inhibition to implement response competition, and opponent processing mechanisms to implement response retraction. Although the model remains simple, it does a very good job of reproducing the available masked priming data. For example, it reproduces a large spectrum of reaction time data across a number of different experimental conditions. Perhaps most notably, however, it also reproduces lateralized readiness potentials that have been recorded while subjects perform different conditions. In addition, it provides a concrete set of testable predictions.