Social attention in keas, dogs, and human children

Understanding animals’ abilities to cooperate with and learn from each other has been an active field of research in recent years. One important basis for all types of social interactions is the disposition of animals to pay attention to each other—a factor often neglected in discussions and experiments. Since attention differs between species as well as between individuals, it is likely to influence the amount and type of information different species and/or observers may extract from conspecifics in any given situation. Here, we carried out a standardized comparative study on attention towards a model demonstrating food-related behavior in keas, dogs and children. In a series of experimental sessions, individuals watched different conspecific models while searching, manipulating and feeding. Visual access to the demonstration was provided by two observation holes, which allowed us to determine exactly how often and for how long observers watched the model. We found profound differences in the factors that influence attention within as well as between the tested species. This study suggests that attention should be incorporated as an important variable when testing species in social situations.     

Randomized Controlled Pilot Study of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy in a Sample of Incarcerated Women With Substance Use Disorder and PTSD

This randomized controlled pilot study compared a cognitive-behavioral therapy (Seeking Safety; SS) plus treatment-as-usual (TAU) to TAU-alone in 49 incarcerated women with substance use disorder (SUD) and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD; full or subthreshold). Seeking Safety consisted of a voluntary group treatment during incarceration and individual treatment after prison release. TAU was required in the prison and comprised 180 to 240 hours of individual and group treatment over 6 to 8 weeks. Assessments occurred at intake, 12 weeks after intake, and 3 and 6 months after release from prison. There were no significant differences between conditions on all key domains (PTSD, SUD, psychopathology, and legal problems); but both conditions showed significant improvements from intake to later time points on all of these outcomes across time. Secondary analyses at follow-up found trends for SS participants improving on clinician-rated PTSD symptoms and TAU participants worsening on self-reported PTSD symptoms. Also, SS demonstrated continued improvement on psychopathology at 3 and 6 months, whereas TAU did not. However, alcohol use improved more for TAU during follow-up. Satisfaction with SS was high, and a greater number of SS sessions was associated with greater improvement on PTSD and drug use. Six months after release from prison, 53% of the women in both conditions reported a remission in PTSD. Study limitations include lack of assessment of SS outcomes at end of group treatment; lack of blind assessment; omission of the SS case management component; and possible contamination between the two conditions. The complex needs of this population are discussed.     

A DEMONSTRATION OF INDIVIDUAL PREFERENCE FOR NOVEL MANDS DURING FUNCTIONAL COMMUNICATION TRAINING

Preference for mand topography was evaluated for 2 individuals with developmental disabilities who exhibited problem behavior. The results of a functional analysis showed that each participant's problem behavior was maintained by social reinforcement. Participants were taught two novel mand topographies for the same functional reinforcer, and each proved to be effective in reducing problem behavior. Finally, preference for mand topography was assessed within a concurrent‐schedules design. Results indicated that functional communication training was an effective treatment, regardless of the mand used, and that each participant demonstrated a preference for one mand topography relative to the other.     

Psychosocial costs of racism to Whites: Understanding patterns among university students

This investigation adds to the growing body of scholarship on the psychosocial costs of racism to Whites (PCRW), which refer to consequences of being in the dominant position in an unjust, hierarchical system of societal racism. Extending research that identified 5 distinct constellations of costs of racism (L. B. Spanierman, V. P. Poteat, A. M. Beer, & P. I. Armstrong, 2006), the authors used multinomial logistic regression in the current study to examine what factors related to membership in 1 of the 5 PCRW types during the course of an academic year. Among a sample of White university freshmen (n = 287), the authors found that (a) diversity attitudes (i.e., universal diverse orientation and unawareness of privilege) explained PCRW type at entrance, (b) PCRW type at entrance explained participation in interracial friendships at the end of the year, (c) 45% of participants changed PCRW type during the course of the year, and (d) among those who changed type, particular PCRW types at entrance resulted in greater likelihood of membership in particular PCRW types at the end of the year. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved).     

Digitally manipulating memory: Effects of doctored videos and imagination in distorting beliefs and memories

In prior research on false autobiographical beliefs and memories, subjects have been asked to imagine fictional events and have been exposed to false evidence that indicates that the fictional events occurred. But what are the relative contributions of imagination and false evidence toward false belief and memory construction? In the present study, subjects observed and copied various simple actions; then they viewed doctored videos that suggested that they had performed extra actions and they imagined performing some of those and some other actions. Subjects returned 2 weeks later for a memory test. False evidence or imagination alone was often sufficient to cause belief and memory distortions; in combination, they appeared to have additive or even superadditive effects. The results bear on the mechanisms underlying false beliefs and memories, and we propose legal and clinical applications of these findings.     

Continuity and change in social and physical aggression from middle childhood through early adolescence

For a sample followed from age 9–13 (N=281), this investigation examined developmental trajectories for social and physical aggression as measured by teacher ratings. Trajectories for both forms of aggression were estimated first separately, then jointly. Mean levels of both social and physical aggression decreased over time for the overall sample, but with high variability of individual trajectories. Subgroups followed high trajectories for both social and physical aggression. Joint estimation yielded six trajectories: low stable, low increasers, medium increasers, medium desisters, high desisters, and high increasers. Membership in the high increaser group was predicted by male gender, unmarried parents, African American ethnicity, and maternal authoritarian and permissive parenting. Permissive parenting also predicted membership in the medium increaser group. This is one of the first studies to examine social aggression longitudinally across this developmental period. Though the results challenge the claim that social aggression is at its peak in early adolescence, the findings emphasize the importance of considering different developmental trajectories in trying to understand origins and outcomes of aggression. Aggr. Behav. 35:357–375, 2009. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Extraversion predicts individual differences in women’s face preferences

Extraversion is positively associated with various indices of women’s mate quality (e.g., facial symmetry and attractiveness). Since such indices are thought to predict variation in women’s preferences for masculine men, we investigated the relationships between each of the ‘Big 5’ personality factors and women’s preferences for facial masculinity. Extraversion, but not the other four personality factors, was positively correlated with women’s preferences for masculinity in men’s, but not women’s, faces. Additionally, extraversion mediated the positive relationship between women’s self-rated attractiveness and their preferences for masculinity in men’s faces, suggesting that extraversion may play a role in condition-dependent mate preferences. Unexpectedly, openness to experience was associated with women’s preferences for femininity in faces of both sexes and this association was independent of that between extraversion and women’s preferences for masculine men. This is the first study that we know of to implicate personality traits in individual differences in women’s preferences for masculine men.