Autonomous Self-Expression and Meritocratic Dignity

While “dignity” plays an increasingly important role in contemporary moral and political debates, there is profound dispute over its definition, meaning, and normative function. Instead of concluding that dignity’s elusiveness renders it useless, or that it signals its fundamental character, this paper focuses on illuminating one particular strand of meritocratic dignity. It introduces a number of examples and conceptual distinctions and argues that there is a specific strand of “expressive” meritocratic dignity that is not connected to holding a special office or rank, but that is ascribed to individuals who are able to engage in autonomous self-expression.     

The effect of oxytocin on biological motion perception in dogs (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Canis familiaris</Emphasis>)

Recent studies have shown that the neuropeptide oxytocin is involved in the regulation of several complex human social behaviours. There is, however, little research on the effect of oxytocin on basic mechanisms underlying human sociality, such as the perception of biological motion. In the present study, we investigated the effect of oxytocin on biological motion perception in dogs (Canis familiaris), a species adapted to the human social environment and thus widely used to model many aspects of human social behaviour. In a within-subjects design, dogs (N = 39), after having received either oxytocin or placebo treatment, were presented with 2D projection of a moving point-light human figure and the inverted and scrambled version of the same movie. Heart rate (HR) and heart rate variability (HRV) were measured as physiological responses, and behavioural response was evaluated by observing dogs’ looking time. Subjects were also rated on the personality traits of Neuroticism and Agreeableness by their owners. As expected, placebo-pretreated (control) dogs showed a spontaneous preference for the biological motion pattern; however, there was no such preference after oxytocin pretreatment. Furthermore, following the oxytocin pretreatment female subjects looked more at the moving point-light figure than males. The individual variations along the dimensions of Agreeableness and Neuroticism also modulated dogs’ behaviour. Furthermore, HR and HRV measures were affected by oxytocin treatment and in turn played a role in subjects? looking behaviour. We discuss how these findings contribute to our understanding of the neurohormonal regulatory mechanisms of human (and non-human) social skills.     

A comparative approach to dogs’ (Canis familiaris) and human infants’ comprehension of various forms of pointing gestures

We investigated whether dogs and 2-, and 3-year-old human infants living, in some respects, in very similar social environments are able to comprehend various forms of the human pointing gesture. In the first study, we looked at their ability to comprehend different arm pointing gestures (long cross-pointing, forward cross-pointing and elbow cross-pointing) to locate a hidden object. Three-year-olds successfully used all gestures as directional cues, while younger children and dogs could not understand the elbow cross-pointing. Dogs were also unsuccessful with the forward cross-pointing. In the second study, we used unfamiliar pointing gestures i.e. using a leg as indicator (pointing with leg, leg cross-pointing, pointing with knee). All subjects were successful with leg pointing gestures, but only older children were able to comprehend the pointing with knee. We suggest that 3-year-old children are able to rely on the direction of the index finger, and show the strongest ability to generalize to unfamiliar gestures. Although some capacity to generalize is also evident in younger children and dogs, especially the latter appear biased in the use of protruding body parts as directional signals.     

Semantic Elaboration through Integration: Hints Both Facilitate and Inform the Process

Semantic knowledge can be extended in a variety of ways, including self-generation of new facts through integration of separate yet related episodes. We sought to promote integration and self-generation by providing “hints” to help 6-year-olds (Experiment 1) and 4-year-olds (Experiment 2) see the relevance of separate episodes to one another. Varying the timing of presentation of the hints—whether provided between episodes or before test—afforded insights into the processes responsible for self-generation of new semantic knowledge through integration. In both experiments, hints provided immediately before testing facilitated performance relative to a control condition. In contrast, hints provided between episodes did not. The findings imply that integration of distinct experiences is not an automatic process set into motion based on shared elements. Even when integration is primed through a hint that a prior episode is relevant to a forthcoming experience, shared elements apparently are not sufficient to promote self-generation of new semantic knowledge. Instead, the process seems to occur upon demand, such as in response to a question. These findings can be used to guide interventions designed to promote enrichment of semantic memory and also further our understanding of the basic cognitive processes involved in extension of knowledge.     

Neue Felder in der Operationalisierten Psychodynamischen Diagnostik

After the operationalized psychodynamic diagnostics (OPD) system became well established in clinical as well as research contexts, especially in German speaking countries, the OPD task force now focuses on issues, such as modules and new manuals which are related to various clinical contexts. In this article new modules and manuals are presented and discussed in summarized form: the modules for addiction disorders and for forensic patients, the new OPD-2 manual for children and adolescents, an OPD-based manual for formulating initial assessment reports for insurance companies as well as a conceptualization for an operationalized psychodynamic therapy (OPT).     

Erratum to: Automatic change detection in vision: Adaptation,memory mismatch,or both? II: Oddball and adaptation effects on event-related potentials

Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics -