Representing Space and Objects in Monkeys and Apes

Primate foraging can be construed as a set of interconnected problems that include finding food, selecting efficient travel routes, anticipating the positions of moving prey, and manipulating, and occasionally, extracting food items using tools. The evidence reviewed in this paper strongly suggests that both monkeys and apes use three types of representation (i.e., static, dynamic, and relational) to solve various problems. Static representations involve recalling certain features of the environment, dynamic representations involve imagining changes in the trajectories of moving objects, and relational representations involve encoding the properties of objects in relation to other objects. Contrary to previous claims, no clear differences were found between the representational skills of monkeys and apes. Current evidence also suggests that primates may be better at representing general compared to specific problem features. Finally, we have characterized the domains of space and objects as complementary and indicated future lines of research in these domains.     

Language and the Symptoms of Mental Illness Connection via Abstract Representations of the Self and the World

Abstract

The aim of the present study is to provide additional knowledge about the mediatory processes through which language contributes to the symptoms of mental illness. Although recent studies have provided insight about the relationship between language and the indicators of mental illness, the role of intervening variables in this connection has been ignored. The present investigation tested a structural equation model in which the need for the absolute truth about self and worry mediated the relationship of the gap between inner psychological experience and language with anxiety and depression. The results have provided support for the model and showed that the gap predicts both the need for absolute truth and worry which, in turn, predict the levels of anxiety and depression. The results have been discussed in the light of previous research, and implications for future research have also been considered.     

Longitudinal Relationships Between Positive Affect,Loneliness, and Suicide Ideation: Age‐Specific Factors in a General Population

The aims of this study were to analyze whether positive and negative affect, social support, and loneliness are factors longitudinally related to suicide ideation in the general population in different age groups. A total of 2,392 individuals from a nationally representative sample of the Spanish general population were evaluated in 2011–2012 and in 2014–2015. After including relevant control variables in the analyses, lower positive affect was prospectively related to ideation in 18‐ to 59‐year‐old individuals, whereas feelings of loneliness were related to ideation in 60‐year‐and‐older individuals. Social support was not associated with suicide ideation in any age group. These results are in line with the need for age‐tailored suicide prevention programs. The present findings might also suggest that health care professionals should consider feelings of loneliness rather than social support to assess the presence of suicide ideation in older people.     

BRIEF REPORT Bilinguals' recall and recognition of emotion words

Recall of emotion words is superior to neutral words. Prior work reported in this journal (Anooshian & Hertel, 1994) found that this effect was absent in a second language. Words in a second language may thus lack the emotional associations of words acquired in childhood. To determine whether memory probes may be generally useful for assessing emotionality effects in a first versus a second language, Anooshian and Hertel's paradigm was extended in several ways. Recall was compared to recognition, and a variety of types of emotion words were studied, including taboo terms, and phrases likely to be learned in childhood (reprimands). Superior memory for emotion words was obtained in both the recall and recognition tasks, but this occurred in both the first and second language and indeed was stronger, for some stimuli, in the second language. This suggests that, even for bilingual speakers who acquire their second late (after age 12), words in the second language retain rich emotional associations.     

It’s not just “us” versus “them”: Moving beyond binary perspectives on intergroup processes

ABSTRACT

The social psychology of intergroup relations has emerged largely from studies of how one group of people (e.g., whites) think and feel about another (e.g., blacks). By reducing the social world to binary categories, this approach has provided an effective and efficient methodological framework. However, it has also obscured important features of social relations in historically divided societies. This paper highlights the importance of investigating intergroup relationships involving more than two groups and of exploring not only their psychological but also their political significance. Exemplifying this argument, we discuss the conditions under which members of disadvantaged groups either dissolve into internecine competition or unite to challenge the status quo, highlighting the role of complex forms of social comparison, identification, contact, and third-party support for collective action. Binary conceptualizations of intergroup relations, we conclude, are the product of specific sociohistorical practices rather than a natural starting point for psychological research.     

Cross-cultural differences in temperament: Comparing paternal ratings of US and Dutch infants

This study conducted longitudinal comparisons of US and Dutch paternal ratings of temperament, measured via the Infant Behaviour Questionnaire-Revised, at 4 months (US n = 99; Dutch n = 127) and 12 months (US n = 66; Dutch n = 112) of age. US fathers rated their infant higher in the broad temperament trait Surgency, and its subscales vocal reactivity, high-intensity pleasure, and activity level. US fathers also rated their infants higher in negative emotionality, and its subscales of sadness, distress to limitations, and fear. Dutch infants received higher ratings in falling reactivity. Though the cultures did not differ in ratings of Orienting/regulatory capacity, US infants were higher on the subscale duration of orienting, and lower in soothability. Significant culture-by-age and culture-by-gender interactions were also noted. Overall, results are largely consistent with those reported for Dutch mothers and speak to considerable differences in early temperament development between cultures viewed as largely similar because of their Western/individualistic orientations.     

Resolving the small-pockets problem helps clarify the role of education and political ideology in shaping vaccine scepticism

Understanding the factors associated with vaccine scepticism is challenging because of the ‘small-pockets’ problem: The number of highly vaccine-sceptical people is low, and small subsamples such as these can be missed using traditional regression approaches. To overcome this problem, the current study (N = 5,200) used latent profile analysis to uncover six profiles, including two micro-communities of vaccine-sceptical people who have the potential to jeopardize vaccine-led herd immunity. The most vaccine-sceptical group (1.14%) was highly educated and expressed strong liberal tendencies. This group was also the most sceptical about genetically modified crops and nuclear energy, and most likely to receive news about science from the Internet. The second-most vaccine-sceptical group (3.4%) was young, poorly educated, and politically extreme (both left and right). In resolving the small-pockets problem, the current analyses also help reconcile competing theoretical perspectives about the role of education and political ideology in shaping anti-vaccination views.