Video tracking in the extreme: Video analysis for nocturnal underwater animal movement

Computer analysis of video footage is one option for recording locomotor behavior for a range of neurophysiological and behavioral studies. This technique is reasonably well established and accepted, but its use for some behavioral analyses remains a challenge. For example, filming through water can lead to reflection, and filming nocturnal activity can reduce resolution and clarity of filmed images. The aim of this study was to develop a noninvasive method for recording nocturnal activity in aquatic decapods and test the accuracy of analysis by video tracking software. We selected crayfish, Cherax destructor, because they are often active at night, they live underwater, and data on their locomotion is important for answering biological and physiological questions such as how they explore and navigate. We constructed recording arenas and filmed animals in infrared light. Wethen compared human observer data and software-acquired values. In this article, we outline important apparatus and software issues to obtain reliable computer tracking.     

Attributing “Third World Poverty” in Australia and Malawi: A Case of Donor Bias?1

Causal attributions for poverty in the developing world were examined from the perspectives of “actors” living in a “developing country” (Malawi) and “observers” living in a “developed country” (Australia). Ninety‐eight Malawian and 100 Australian weekend shoppers responded to the Causes of Third World Poverty Questionnaire (CTWPQ) and the Just World Scale (JWS), with Australian participants also providing information about their frequency of donating to foreign‐aid charities. Consistent with the actor–observer bias, Australians were more likely than were Malawians to attribute poverty to dispositional characteristics of the poor, rather than to situational factors. Among the Australians, situational attributions were in turn associated with frequency of donation behavior. The finding of a donor bias in this sample has important implications for the social marketing of foreign aid to Western donor publics.     

Faith,Belief and Fictionalism

Is propositional religious faith constituted by belief? Recent debate has focussed on whether faith may be constituted by a positive non‐doxastic cognitive state, which can stand in place of belief. This article sets out and defends the doxastic theory. We consider and reject three arguments commonly used in favour of non‐doxastic theories of faith: (1) the argument from religious doubt; (2) the use of ‘faith’ in linguistic utterances; and (3) the possibility of pragmatic faith. We argue that belief is required to maintain a distinction between genuine faith, pretend faith, and fictionalist faith.     

Computer-Assisted Careers Guidance Systems as Decision Support Systems

'Decision support systems' are computer systems which are aimed at improving decisions made by managers. An examination of the literature on decision support systems suggests that there are similarities between these systems and computer-aided careers guidance systems. These similarities —and differences -are explored, and a number of ways in which each approach might learn from the other are suggested.     

The group-as-a-whole approach in Foulksian group analytic psychotherapy

The group analytic group-as-a-whole approach of Foulkes privileges the concept of the group matrix. The term matrix is a metaphor for the network of all individual mental processes, the psychological medium in which they meet, communicate, and interact. The developing group matrix acts both as a container and as a holding environment for the psychic processes of the individual members in the group context. The concept of coherency is evoked to describe the process of the developing capacity of a group to be therapeutic. The concept of coherency is applied both to conscious and to unconscious mental process.     

Better Candidates Fly Fewer Training Hours: Another Time Testing Pays Off

The relationship between Pilot Candidate Selection Method (PCSM) scores and the number of flying training hours required to complete United States Air Force Undergraduate Pilot Training (UPT) was investigated on a sample of 1,082 graduates. This was done to demonstrate that ability testing has real world correlates and that cost savings accrued as a result of ability testing. The criterion ‘extra flying hours’ was computed by subtracting each student's cumulative flying hours from the sample mean. The correlations (corrected for range restriction) between PCSM scores and primary and advanced flying training extra hours were ?0.206 and ?0.270, respectively. Demonstrating that UPT graduates with higher PCSM scores required fewer flying hours to complete training facilitates the estimation of the cost avoidance achieved by ability tests.     

The effect of instruction with relational and item-specific elaborative strategies on young children's organization and free recall

One hundred and sixty second-grade children were assigned on the basis of a free recall pretest to four instruction conditions and were given a series of lists of pictures for free recall. For three groups, the instructions were directed at encoding either (a) list organizational information, (b) item-specific semantic information, or (c) organizational and individual item information, while the fourth group constituted a “No-training” control with standard free recall instructions. The subjects received either related or unrelated lists during the training phase and related or unrelated lists during two post-tests, immediately following and 1 week after training. For both types of lists, instructions emphasizing list organization were more effective than those emphasizing item-specific elaboration. Subjects given individual item elaborative instructions showed levels of recall which were comparable to those of the control subjects. While the combined effect of organizational and individual item processing did not exceed the performance produced by organizational instructions alone, the degree of generalization was greater for subjects processing both kinds of information, especially when subjects received related lists during training.     

Low accuracy in judgments of others' psychological well-being as seen from a phenomenological perspective

The generally low degree of agreement between self-ratings on personality traits and ratings by others may be interpreted from the viewpoint that self-reports reflect people's experience of themselves but not necessarily their behaviors. A detailed analysis of self and other ratings on subjective well-being as a central dimension of human experience is consistent with this phenomenological view. Ratings of well-being were not significantly correlated with rated behaviors either in self-ratings or in ratings by others. Screening subjects in terms of avowed consistency and observability on a trait did not improve self-other agreement for well-being, nor did it replicate the individual trait effects reported by Kenrick and Stringfield (1980). Judgments by others were found to have poor interjudge reliability and to reflect biases associated with projection of own well-being and a halo effect organized around the subject's perceived friendliness or likability. It was demonstrated that pooling the judgments of several observers should not and does not lead to accurate prediction of the phenomenal personality, and that accuracy may generally depend on the level of self-disclosure.     

Change detection and off-frequency listening: A reply to Leshowitz and Wightman

Leshowitz and Wightman’s (1972) account of the fact that recognition of increments and decrements in intensity improves with signal duration relative to detection of increments and decrements is found wanting. Not only does their interpretation fail to explain the occurrence of the effect in several different stimulus situations, but it is inconsistent with the results of detection experiments in which either signal duration or the signal polarity is uncertain.