Targets of attack and defense in play-fighting of the Djungarian hamster Phodopus campbelli: Links to fighting and sex

Analysis of the body targets attacked and defended during play-fighting by juvenile Djungarian hamsters Phodopus campbelli revealed that about 70% of all attacks were directed at the mouth. If successfully contacted, the mouth was briefly licked and nuzzled. The remaining playful attacks were gentle bites directed at the rump, and to a lesser extent, the top of the head. During serious fighting the top of the head and the rump are targets of attack, whereas the mouth is not. Licking and nuzzling the mouth was found to be a behavior performed by adult males at the beginning of sexual encounters. Therefore, play-fighting in juvenile hamsters cannot be thought of merely as a form of “mock fighting” since the principal target is seemingly sexual, not agonistic. The data also show that of the sexual body targets contacted, adult females are more likely to defend the mouth. In this way it is suggested that targets attacked and defended during juvenile play-fighting are derived from adult contexts in which such targets are defended. This hypothesis accounts for the prevalence of agonistic targets in the play-fighting of many species, and may provide a rationale for classifying those amicable targets that are competed for during play-fighting.     

Good refugees,bad migrants? Intergroup helping orientations toward refugees,migrants, and economic migrants in Germany

The present study examined the effect of group labels on helping behavioral intentions toward displaced people in Germany. Specifically, it examined the impact of different labels evoking either voluntary or forced migration (i.e., migrants, economic migrants, and refugees) on different helping orientations (e.g., dependency vs. autonomy-oriented helping) and if these effects occur via perceived intergroup threat, warmth and competence stereotypes. Participants (N = 304) were randomly assigned to one of three conditions (refugee vs. migrant vs. economic migrant) and read fabricated case vignettes, featuring a displaced person who arrived in Germany recently. Results showed that, as predicted, the use of different group labels affected the helping orientations of host society members, as well as, the stereotypes they held. No significant label effects were found for intergroup threat. While the label refugee evoked dependency-oriented helping intentions and triggered paternalistic stereotypes, the label economic migrants increased opposition to help, decreased help affirmation and evoked envious stereotypes. Practical implications to strengthen peaceful intergroup relations between host society members and newcomers are discussed.     

Note on Eugenio Rignano as a forerunner of the “new look” theory of visual perception

This note examines the theoretical study of perception presented by Eugenio Rignano, the Italian philosopher and editor of Scientia. Rignano's theory, which is structured around the concept of “affective tendency,” is seen as a forerunner to the “New Look” theory of perception presented by Gardner Murphy. It is concluded that the case of Rignano and Murphy is another example strengthening Henle's thesis that the study of the history of psychology can help to avoid the conceptual errors of a previously stated theory.     

The Roles of Ethnicity and School Context in Predicting Children's Victimization by Peers

This study examines the prevalence, stability, and contextual correlates of peer victimization in a sample of African-American, Hispanic, and non-Hispanic White urban elementary school-age children. A total of 1956 children (40% African-American, 42% Hispanic, and 18% White) attending any 1 of 14 public elementary schools located in one large and one mid-sized Midwestern city participated in this study. Peer ratings of victimization were obtained at two points in time, separated by a 2-year period. Findings revealed that risk for being victimized by peers varied by ethnicity and by school context. Hispanic children had lower victimization scores than did either African-American or White children. These findings, however, were moderated by school context, such that attending ethnically integrated schools was associated with a significantly higher risk of victimization for White children and a slightly lower risk of victimization for African-American children and did not affect the risk of victimization for Hispanic children. In addition, African-American children were less likely than Hispanic and White children to be repeatedly victimized by peers over time. The importance of considering ethnicity and context in explaining peer victimization is discussed and suggestions for preventive interventions and future research are provided.     

Just lying there, remembering: improving recall of prose in amnesic patients with mild cognitive impairment by minimising interference

The hallmark of amnesia is poor explicit long-term memory along with normal short-term memory. It is often stated that information encountered by amnesic patients is forgotten within 1 minute of presentation. However, previous work has not distinguished between forgetting as a function of time versus the interfering material occupying that time. We show that there is a marked benefit of reduced interference in amnesic patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI), a condition that is characterised by anterograde amnesia in the absence of other neuropsychological deficits and carries an increased risk for Alzheimer's disease. The result suggests that long-term memory is encoded in these patients to a greater extent than had been realised but that their memory is highly vulnerable to interference.