Inferring Behavior From Partial Social Information Plays Little or No Role in the Cultural Transmission of Adaptive Traits

Many human cultural traits become increasingly beneficial as they are repeatedly transmitted, thanks to an accumulation of modifications made by successive generations. But how do later generations typically avoid modifications which revert traits to less beneficial forms already sampled and rejected by earlier generations? And how can later generations do so without direct exposure to their predecessors' behavior? One possibility is that learners are sensitive to cues of non-random production in others' behavior, and that particular variants (e.g., those containing structural regularities unlikely to occur spontaneously) have been produced deliberately and with some effort. If this non-random behavior is attributed to an informed strategy, then the learner may infer that apparent avoidance of certain possibilities indicates that these have already been sampled and rejected. This could potentially prevent performance plateaus resulting from learners modifying inherited behaviors randomly. We test this hypothesis in four experiments in which participants, either individually or in interacting dyads, attempt to locate rewards in a search grid, guided by partial information about another individual's experience of the task. We find that in some contexts, valid inferences about another's behavior can be made from partial information, and these inferences can be used in a way which facilitates trait adaptation. However, the benefit of these inferences appears to be limited, and in many contexts—including some which have the potential to make inferring the experience of another individual easier—there appears to be no benefit at all. We suggest that inferring previous behavior from partial social information plays a minimal role in the adaptation of cultural traits.     

Rorschach Assessment of Two Distinctive Personality States of a Person With Dissociative Identity Disorder

This case study used test data from a patient with Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID; American Psychiatric Association, 2013 American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.). Arlington, VA: American Psychiatric Association.[Crossref] , [Google Scholar]) to illustrate how two main personality states of the patient (“Ann” and “Ben”) seemed to function. The Rorschach Performance Assessment System (R–PAS; Meyer, Viglione, Mihura, Erard, &; Erdberg, 2011 Meyer, G. J., Viglione, D. J., Mihura, J., Erard, R. E., &; Erdberg, P. (2011). Rorschach Performance Assessment System: Administration, coding, interpretation, and technical manual. Toledo, OH: Rorschach Performance Assessment System. [Google Scholar]) and the Inventory of Interpersonal Problems–Circumplex (IIP–64; Horowitz, Alden, Wiggins, &; Pincus, 2000 Horowitz, L. M., Alden, L. E., Wiggins, J. S., &; Pincus, A. L. (2000). IIP–64/IIP–32 professional manual. San Antonio, TX: Psychological Corporation. [Google Scholar]), administered to Ann and Ben in separate settings, exposed two diverse R–PAS and IIP–64 profiles. Ann's R–PAS profile suggested an intellectualized style of information processing with few indications of psychological problems. Ben's profile indicated severe perceptual, cognitive, and interpersonal difficulties combined with suspicion and anxiety. Ann's IIP–64 profile suggested minor interpersonal problems, whereas Ben's indicated serious relational difficulties. The findings were discussed in relation to the theory of trauma-related structural dissociation of the personality (van der Hart, Nijenhuis, &; Steele, 2006 van der Hart, O., Nijenhuis, E. R. S., &; Steele, K. (2006). The haunted self: Chronic traumatization and structural dissociation of the personality. New York, NY: Norton. [Google Scholar]), which implies an enduring split in the organization of the personality with more or less separate entities with their own sense of self, perception of the world, and ways of organizing emotional, cognitive, and social functions. The DID personality structure is seen as a defense strategy and as a pathway in the personality development producing serious psychological pain and symptoms.     

The possibility of pharmacologic therapy of extrapyramidal hyperkineses with tiapride

A novel substance, tiaprid (Tiapridex), from the family of the substituted benzamides, can be used in an attempt to block the dopaminergic receptors of the corpus striatum without inducing the psychiatric side effects on the mesolimbic system associated with, for instance, neuroleptics. Since hyperkinetic illness of the brain-stem ganglions accompanied by myoclonia, athetosis and dystonia are believed to stem from a state of imbalance between dopaminergic and cholinergic processes in which dopaminergic activity predominates, the application of tiaprid was tested on patients with etiologically different illnesses in an open clinical study. The course of treatment was documented by measurements and a record of clinical findings. No tolerance problems were encountered, and the substance had no grave side effects. Its effects proved to be good to very good on myoclonic hyperkinesis and good to moderate on athetosis, but dystonia seemed to be resistant to this form of treatment.