Is Theory of Mind Understanding Impaired in Males with Fragile X Syndrome?

Males with fragile X syndrome (FXS) have difficulties with social interaction and many show autistic features. This study examined whether the social deficits characteristic of FXS are associated with theory of mind difficulties. Two groups of boys with FXS participated: a group with few autistic features and a group with many autistic features. An intellectual disability control group also participated. In addition to using standard theory of mind tasks, new techniques were used that were able to separate out the various processing demands of the task (e.g., memory, inhibitory control). Overall, the findings indicate that both groups of boys with FXS have difficulty with theory of mind tasks compared to an intellectual disability control group. However, both groups with FXS also performed worse on comparison trials that required working memory but not theory of mind. Theory of mind difficulties are likely to be an important aspect of the FXS clinical profile, but are most likely the result from a more basic difficulty with working memory.     

The relation between subitizable symbolic and non‐symbolic number processing over the kindergarten school year

A long‐standing debate in the field of numerical cognition concerns the degree to which symbolic and non‐symbolic processing are related over the course of development. Of particular interest is the possibility that this link depends on the range of quantities in question. Behavioral and neuroimaging research with adults suggests that symbolic and non‐symbolic quantities may be processed more similarly within, relative to outside of, the subitizing range. However, it remains unclear whether this unique link exists in young children at the outset of formal education. Further, no study has yet taken numerical size into account when investigating the longitudinal influence of these skills. To address these questions, we investigated the relation between symbolic and non‐symbolic processing inside versus outside the subitizing range, both cross‐sectionally and longitudinally, in 540 kindergarteners. Cross‐sectionally, we found a consistently stronger relation between symbolic and non‐symbolic number processing within versus outside the subitizing range at both the beginning and end of kindergarten. We also show evidence for a bidirectional relation over the course of kindergarten between formats within the subitizing range, and a unidirectional relation (symbolic → non‐symbolic) for quantities outside of the subitizing range. These findings extend current theories on symbolic and non‐symbolic magnitude development by suggesting that non‐symbolic processing may in fact play a role in the development of symbolic number abilities, but that this influence may be limited to quantities within the subitizing range.     

A Right to Understand Injustice: Epistemology and the “Right to the Truth” in International Human Rights Discourse

People's “right to truth” or their “right to know” about their government's human rights abuses is a growing consensus in human rights discourses and a fertile area of work in international and humanitarian law. In most discussions of this right to know the truth, it is commonly seen as requiring the state or international institutions to provide access to evidence of the violations. In this paper, I argue that such a right naturally has many epistemic aspects, and the tools of social epistemology can be helpful in elucidating what such a right entails. As a beginning for this project, I draw on those resources to argue that the right to know the truth is only meaningful if it includes a right to understand the abuses, and that such understanding can only come through the development of community epistemic capacities. Given this, I further argue that the state has a duty to support the development of these capacities, and that a critical place for beginning this process is in public schools.     

Implicit and Explicit Gender Stereotypes at the Bargaining Table: Male Counterparts’ Stereotypes Predict Women’s Lower Performance in Dyadic Face-to-Face Negotiations

Sex Roles - In every major occupational group and at every level of educational attainment, U.S. women earn less than men (Carnevale et al. 2018). Besides a component explained by objective factors...     

Application of the generalized matching law to chess openings: A gambit analysis

During the opening moves of a chess game, a player (typically White) may offer a number of gambits, which involve sacrificing a chess piece for an opponent for capture to achieve long-term positional advantages. One of the most popular gambits is called the Queen's Gambit and involves White offering a pawn to Black, which will open a lane for White's Queen if accepted by Black. In the present study, the generalized matching law (GML) was applied to chess openings involving the Queen's Gambit using over 71,000 archived chess games. Overall, chess players' opening moves involving the Queen's Gambit exhibited orderly matching as predicted by the GML, and the GML accounted for more variance in players' chess decision making as their relative playing experience increased. This study provides support for the generality of the GML and its application to complex operant behavior outside of laboratory contexts.     

Cognitive constraint on the ‘automatic pilot’ for the hand: Movement intention influences the hand’s susceptibility to involuntary online corrections

Research suggests that the reaching hand automatically deviates toward a target that changes location (jumps) during the reach. In the current study, we investigated whether movement intention can influence the target jump’s impact on the hand. We compared the degree of trajectory deviation to a jumped target under three instruction conditions: (1) GO, in which participants were told to go to the target if it jumped, (2) STOP, in which participants were told to immediately stop their movement if the target jumped, and (3) IGNORE, in which participants were told to ignore the target if it jumped and to continue to its initial location. We observed a reduced response to the jump in the IGNORE condition relative to the other conditions, suggesting that the response to the jump is contingent on the jump being a task-relevant event.     

How do symbols affect 3‐ to 4‐year‐olds' executive function? Evidence from a reverse‐contingency task

In two experiments, 330 3‐ to 4‐year‐olds competed for stickers in a game in which the optimal response strategy was to point to an empty box that their opponent would receive in order to obtain a baited box for themselves. When the baited box contained stickers, children showed a strong tendency to point at the baited box and therefore lose the stickers to their opponent. In Experiment 1 children performed better when the number of stickers to be won was represented with one of five different types of symbol: numerals, number words, dots, a photograph or sweets. In Experiment 2 children transferred their improved performance in symbolic conditions to non‐symbolic conditions. These findings suggest that symbols enable children to formulate an efficient response strategy, and that this effect may be qualitatively different in children from the effect of symbols in non‐human primates.     

Individual differences in cognitive control: The role of psychoticism and working memory in set‐shifting

Set‐shifting refers to a process of cognitive control which is shown through flexible behavioural adaptation to changes in task parameters or demands, such as the switching of an explicit rule (extra‐dimensional rule shifting) or the reversal of a reinforcement‐contingency (reversal‐learning). Set‐shifting deficits are widely documented in specific neuropsychological disorders, but seldom investigated in relation to normally‐occurring individual differences. In a sample of healthy adults (N=78, 28% male), we demonstrate that Working Memory and trait Psychoticism have independent involvement in extra‐dimensional rule shifting as measured using an analogue of the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test. Only Psychoticism, however, was involved in reversal‐learning, as assessed using a recent modification of the Iowa Gambling Task. Individual differences in extra‐dimensional rule shifting were explained in terms of rule abstraction speed, while individual differences in reversal‐learning were explained in terms of response perseveration. These results clarify component processes in different forms of set‐shifting, and highlight the role of individual differences, especially personality, in cognitive control.