Experimental Evidence From Newborn Chicks Enriches Our Knowledge on Human Spatial–Numerical Associations

Núñez and Fias raised concerns on whether our results demonstrate a linear number‐space mapping. Patro and Nuerk urge caution on the use of animal models to understand the origin (cultural vs. biological) of the orientation of spatial–numerical association. Here, we discuss why both objections are unfounded.     

Flow at Work and Basic Psychological Needs: Effects on Well‐Being

Recent conceptual work draws meaningful distinctions between experiential and declarative well‐being (Shmotkin, 2005 ), but little has been done to apply such distinctions in organisational psychology. We use this framework to integrate self‐determination theory (Deci & Ryan, 1985 ) and flow theory (Csikszentmihalyi, 1975 ), leading to hypotheses proposing that flow experiences at work (experiential well‐being) lead to declarative well‐being outcomes through their influence on the satisfaction of basic psychological needs for competence and autonomy. Findings from a two‐week experience sampling study of full‐time employees offer support for our hypotheses. This study also shows support for the moderating effect of individual differences in personality on the relationships among flow experiences, need fulfillment, and declarative well‐being.     

Paving the Way: The Distinctive Mentoring Style of Janet Taylor Spence

Janet Taylor Spence (1923–2015), a major figure in American psychology, made seminal scientific contributions to the fields of anxiety and gender psychology. In this essay, the authors, both former Spence students, weave a tapestry of her teaching and mentoring by using as the threads Spence’s reflections on her professional life, the authors’ personal experiences with Spence, and findings from the relevant career literature. Three areas of teaching and mentoring are used to illustrate Spence’s distinctive yet highly effective style of mentoring: (a) modeling and insisting on careful thinking, (b) serving as an intentional role model, and (c) assisting in negotiating the hazards of academia. A conceptual explanation is provided for each area, together with specific examples illustrating how Spence employed these strategies.     

Autonomy and interdependence: beliefs of Brazilian mothers from state capitals and small towns

This study aimed to investigate characteristics of Brazilian mothers' beliefs system, in the dimensions of autonomy and interdependence. A group of 600 women, half from state capitals and half from small towns, participated in the study. They were individually interviewed with Scales of Allocentrism, Beliefs about Parental Practices and Socialization Goals. Paired and Independent samples t tests and Multivariate GLM were performed. The results indicate that although mothers from both contexts value autonomy, mothers inhabiting small towns considered the relational dimension as the most important; whereas mothers inhabiting capitals valued equally both dimensions, either in their beliefs about practices or in the socialization goals for their children. Mothers from small towns have a higher mean score for allocentrism than mothers living in capitals. Thus, place of residence proved to be a relevant variable in the modulation of maternal beliefs. Educational level was not a significant factor in the variables considered and with this group of mothers. The study results are discussed in terms of their contribution to the understanding of the complex relationship between dimensions of autonomy and interdependence in mothers' beliefs system.     

Imprinted numbers: newborn chicks’ sensitivity to number vs. continuous extent of objects they have been reared with

Newborn chicks were tested for their sensitivity to number vs. continuous physical extent of artificial objects they had been reared with soon after hatching. Because of the imprinting process, such objects were treated by chicks as social companions. We found that when the objects were similar, chicks faced with choices between 1 vs. 2 or 2 vs. 3 objects chose the set of objects of larger numerosity, irrespective of the number of objects they had been reared with. Moreover, when volume, surface or contour length were controlled for using sets of 1 vs. 4, 1 vs. 6 or 1 vs. 3 objects, chicks resorted to choosing the larger object, rather than the familiar numerosity. When, however, chicks were reared with objects differing in their aspect (colour, size, and shape) and then tested with completely novel objects (of different colour and shape but controlled for continuous extent), they chose to associate with the same number of objects they had been reared with. These results suggest that identification of objects as different and separate individuals is crucial for the computation of number rather than continuous extent in numerical representation of small numerosities and provide a striking parallel with results obtained in human infants. Early availability of small numerosity discrimination by chicks strongly suggests that these abilities are in place at birth.     

Assessing cognitive load using oculometrics to identify deceit during interviews

Lying requires a long‐term memory search and is a cognitive load task. Telling a spontaneous lie is associated with a higher cognitive load compared with the truth, although when memories are planned before telling a lie, the cognitive load can be less compared with the truth; therefore, telling a spontaneous lie could be associated with a higher cognitive load compared with a planned lie. In this study, we examined cognitive load, as measured through oculometrics, to identify deceit in interviews. Twenty‐four subjects were questioned, and their answers classified as spontaneous lies, planned lies, and truths. Results show that saccades and fixations were associated with a higher cognitive load when telling spontaneous lies compared with telling truths. Blinks and pupillometry show that subjects require greater cognitive load when telling truths compared with planned lies. Finally, telling spontaneous lies required higher cognitive load compared with planned lies, as assessed by blinks.     

Invisible Household Labor and Ramifications for Adjustment: Mothers as Captains of Households

We address the issue of invisible labor in the home by examining how the distribution of the mental and emotional labor inherent in managing the household between spouses may be linked with women’s well-being, including their satisfaction with life, partner satisfaction, feelings of emptiness, and experiencing role overload. In a sample of 393 U.S. married/partnered mothers, mostly of upper-middle class backgrounds with dependent children at home, results showed that a majority of women reported that they alone assumed responsibility for household routines involving organizing schedules for the family and maintaining order in the home. Some aspects of responsibilities related to child adjustment were primarily handled by mothers, including being vigilant of children’s emotions, whereas other aspects were shared with partners, including instilling values in the children. Responsibility was largely shared for household finances. Regression analyses showed that after controlling for dimensions of emotional and physical intimacy, feeling disproportionately responsible for household management, especially child adjustment, was associated with strains on mothers’ personal well-being as well as lower satisfaction with the relationship. The implications of our work highlight the need to consider the burden of household management on mothers’ well-being and speak to mothers’ own needs for support and care as the primary managers of the household. In future research on division of labor, it will be useful to measure these critical but often neglected dimensions of who coordinates the household, given potential ramifications of this dimension for the quality of marriages and women’s personal well-being.

     

Sleep directly following learning benefits consolidation of spatial associative memory

The last decade has brought forth convincing evidence for a role of sleep in non-declarative memory. A similar function of sleep in episodic memory is supported by various correlational studies, but direct evidence is limited. Here we show that cued recall of face-location associations is significantly higher following a 12-h retention interval containing sleep than following an equally long period of waking. Furthermore, retention is significantly higher over a 24-h sleep-wake interval than over an equally long wake-sleep interval. This difference occurs because retention during sleep was significantly better when sleep followed learning directly, rather than after a day of waking. These data demonstrate a beneficial effect of sleep on memory that cannot be explained solely as a consequence of reduced interference. Rather, our findings suggest a competitive consolidation process, in which the fate of a memory depends, at least in part, on its relative stability at sleep onset: Strong memories tend to be preserved, while weaker memories erode still further. An important aspect of memory consolidation may thus result from the removal of irrelevant memory "debris."