One-trial long-lasting food-aversion learning in wild Japanese monkeys (Macaca fuscata)

We examined how Japanese monkeys in the wild formed an aversion to food which had been paired with poison. Ten monkeys of various ages and both sexes were chosen as subjects from 105 members of the Shiga-A1 troop at Jigokudani in Shiga Heights in Japan. We gave almond nuts to each subject. Once a monkey ate 10-20 almond nuts, he was captured and moved into an injection cage. Seven experimental subjects were injected intravenously with cyclophosphamide (20 mg/kg). Three control subjects received the same treatment except that they were injected with physiological saline. About 1 hour later, all subjects were released into the troop. The tests for conditioned aversions were conducted during the next 2 days. In the tests, the experimental subjects would not eat almond nuts, while the control subjects showed no hesitation in eating them. Five of the seven experimental subjects retained perfectly the aversion to almond nuts in tests conducted 1 month and 3 months later. The one-trial long-lasting food-aversion learning shown by the wild Japanese monkeys is discussed in terms of their feeding strategy. These results also suggest that food-aversion conditioning has potential as a nonlethal method for controlling crop-raiding monkeys.     

Problem-solving deficits and depressive symptoms among children

Depressive symptoms among 40 fourth- and fifth-grade students as measured by the Children's Depression Inventory, correlated highly with impaired problem solving at block designs (r = .64) and anagrams (r = .67). Similar impairments have been found among depressed adults, suggesting that depression among children may be continuous with depression among adults.     

SOME DETERMINANTS OF PSYCHOLOGISTS' EMPLOYABILITY IN ACADEMIC SETTINGS

A factor analysis of 11 variables, ferreted from the curriculum vitae (CV) of 338 applicants for the position of assistant professor of psychology, yielded four factors which were used as predictors in six stepwise multiple regression analyses in which the ratings of 92 CV's by five members of a search committee were utilized as the criteria, first collectively and then individually. The first factor which was chiefly composed of the number of publications, especially senior authorships, accounted for 16% of the total variance and was the most potent contributor to the multiple R. Comparison of the results of the single-judge analyses revealed some notable vicissitudes in the prominence of the four predictors. Relationships of the present findings to the past policy-capturing research were indicated.     

Determinants of associative response latency

The relationship between single-word, free-association response latency and the following characteristics of Kent-Rosanoff words were examined: ( a ) grammatical form class, ( b ) emotionality, ( c ) familiarity, and ( d ) D (the number of different response words given to a stimulus word in a single-word free-association situation by a group of subjects). In addition was examined the relationship between response latency and ( e ) the type of associative linkage constituted by the stimulus-response combination, and ( f ) response frequency. Given the limits posed by the present stimulus material, subject material, and analyses performed, the conclusion was reached that single-word, free-associative response latency is related primarily to D ( r =0.81), secondly to the frequency with which a given stimulus-response combination occurs in a group of subjects.     

The need and ability to achieve cognitive structuring: individual differences that moderate the effect of stress on information processing.

The authors examined the hypothesis that the interaction between the need for cognitive structure (NCS) and the ability to achieve cognitive structure (AACS) moderates the effect of stress on information processing. NCS is the preference for using cognitive structuring, as opposed to piecemeal processes, as a means to achieve certainty. AACS is the extent to which individuals are able to apply information processes that are consistent with their levels of NCS. The hypothesis was validated in 4 studies, which showed that stress increased high-AACS participants' use of cognitive structuring if they had high NCS and reduced it if they had low NCS. An opposite effect was found for low-AACS participants. The implications of these results for the understanding of the mechanisms responsible for the effect of stress on information processing are discussed.     

Effects of in-group bias on planned encounters of Jewish and Arab youths

In a sample of 9th-grade Jewish (n = 118) and Arab (n = 100) students in Israel who participated in planned binational encounters, the author examined in-group biases as a function of (a) their perceptions of the encounter between the groups as interpersonal or as intergroup contact and (b) their views of the status of their respective national groups in Israel as legitimate and stable. In comparisons of the 2 encounter groups (of equal status), both groups showed in-group biases. In comparisons of the national groups at large (of unequal status), the Arab students considered their group similar to the Jewish group, whereas the Jewish students rated their group more favorably than they rated the Arab group. For the Jewish, but not the Arab, students, in-group bias was contingent on simultaneous ratings (legitimate-illegitimate; stable-unstable) of the binational situation in Israel. The data support a 2-dimensional model rather than a 1-dimensional model of intergroup-interpersonal definition of the encounter.