Meaning attribution in the West African green monkey: influence of call type and context

The search for the evolutionary roots of human language has fuelled much research into the cognitive mechanisms underlying communication in nonhuman animals. One core issue has been whether the context-specific calls of nonhuman animals are meaningful, with call meaning inferred from recipients’ responses in the absence of supporting contextual cues. This direct inference may well offer an oversimplified view of how vocalisations are perceived, however, as responses under natural conditions are likely guided by contextual cues as well as by the signal. In this study, we investigate how the anti-predator responses of green monkeys, Chlorocebus sabaeus, are affected by alarm call structure and by context. We first simulated the presence of leopards and snakes to elicit alarm vocalisations and to identify predator-typical response behaviours. In both contexts, the monkeys produced chirp calls that revealed only graded variation in relation to predator type. We then carried out playback experiments to explore whether green monkeys would respond with predator-typical behaviour to leopard and snake chirps, and whether contextual cues, in the form of pre-exposure to a leopard or snake model, would modify these responses. Irrespective of context, subjects were more likely to respond to leopard chirps with a leopard-typical response. Predator priming did not have a significant effect on the type of response, but, together with call type, did affect response duration. This suggests that the immediate attribution of meaning was influenced by acoustic cues, whilst receiver’s prior knowledge was incorporated to guide subsequent behaviour.     

Making working memory work: The effects of extended practice on focus capacity and the processes of updating,forward access,and random access

We investigated the effects of 10 h of practice on variations of the N-Back task to investigate the processes underlying possible expansion of the focus of attention within working memory. Using subtractive logic, we showed that random access (i.e., Sternberg-like search) yielded a modest effect (a 50% increase in speed) whereas the processes of forward access (i.e., retrieval in order, as in a standard N-Back task) and updating (i.e., changing the contents of working memory) were executed about 5 times faster after extended practice. We additionally found that extended practice increased working memory capacity as measured by the size of the focus of attention for the forward-access task, but not for variations where probing was in random order. This suggests that working memory capacity may depend on the type of search process engaged, and that certain working-memory-related cognitive processes are more amenable to practice than others.     

Heterogeneity in the Strength of the Relation Between Social Support and Post-Trauma Psychopathology

Potentially traumatic events (PTEs) increase risk for psychopathology, including posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), major depressive disorder (MDD), and generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). Social support (SS) is associated with reduced symptoms for each disorder. Each disorder, however, is highly heterogeneous such that they are comprised of clusters of different symptoms. It is unclear if SS is associated with all clusters equally. The current study examined the relation between SS and the symptom clusters of each disorder. Participants completed a battery of self-report assessments for PTSD, MDD, GAD, and SS. All participants experienced a Criterion A traumatic event. Although SS was significantly associated with all symptom clusters, the strength of relations varied. The relation between SS and MDD-affective was significantly stronger than its association with all other factors. The relations between SS and GAD, MDD-somatic, PTSD-AAR, and PTSD-NACM did not significantly differ. These relations were stronger than the relations between SS and the remaining PTSD factors. There was no significant difference in the relations between SS and PTSD-intrusions or PTSD-avoidance. These results suggest that SS is more closely aligned to specific aspects of post-trauma psychopathology.     

Perceived Social Status and Suicidal Ideation in Maltreated Children and Adolescents

Research on Child and Adolescent Psychopathology - Recent decades have seen an alarming increase in rates of suicide among young people, including children and adolescents (“youth”)....     

Breathing Characteristics and Symptoms of Psychological Distress: An Exploratory Study

In this exploratory study of the relationship between characteristics of breathing and 3 common psychological issues (i.e., symptoms of anxiety, alexithymia, and depression), 79 college‐age adults were examined using self‐report, rater observation, and physiological measures. Results indicated significant positive relationships between dysfunctional breath characteristics and symptoms of both anxiety and alexithymia. A significant positive correlation was found between self‐reported symptoms of dysfunctional breathing and symptoms of depression, but no significant relationships existed between symptoms of depression and either rater‐observed breath characteristics or physiological measures.