Organization of sex-typical patterns of defense during food protection in the rat: The role of the opponent's sex

Feeding rats defend a food item from an approaching conspecific by turning away, laterally, about 180°. Females and males use a different composition of movements and stepping patterns to perform these defensive dodges. This study was designed to examine the role of the robber's sex on the execution of sex-typical patterns of dodging. All subjects were tested with a partner of each sex. During dodging, females used the female-typical pattern of pivoting around the pelvis, and males used the male-typical midbody pivot, irrespective of the robber's sex. These findings show that the sex-typical patterns of dodging are not determined by the sex of the partner. Females and males however, differed in how they were oriented towards a same sex robber at the end of the dodge. This suggests that while male and female robbers must pose different defensive problems, these differences are dealt with by modifying the sex-typical pattern of dodging rather than by switching to the dodge pattern of the opposite sex. This further suggests that the differences in the composition of the dodge pattern in males and females are not due to extrinsic contingencies, but rather, are due to intrinsic differences in the sex-typical organization of defensive motor patterns. Aggr. Behav. 23:197–214, 1997.© 1997 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Polydrug use trajectories and differences in impulsivity among adolescentsTrayectorias de policonsumo y diferencias en impulsividad entre adolescentes

Background/Objective: Although alcohol, tobacco and cannabis are the most widely consumed drugs, sparse data exist regarding polydrug use in adolescents and its relationship with impulsivity. This study aims to identify trajectories of polydrug use and analyze differences in impulsivity between them. Method: A total of 1,565 adolescents (54.4% males; mean age = 13.02, SD = 0.57) were annually assessed over three years using the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale, the Zuckerman Impulsive Sensation Seeking Scale, a Stroop Test and a Delay Discounting Task. Frequency of alcohol, tobacco, and cannabis use, intoxication episodes and problem drinking were also assessed. Polydrug trajectories were identified using latent class mixed modelling. To examine differences in self-reported and behavioral impulsivity two mixed multivariate analyses of covariance were used. Results: Three trajectories of substance use were found. The ‘Experimental use’ and the ‘Early use’ trajectories presented the lowest and highest impulsivity, respectively. Substance use increases in the ‘Telescoped used’ trajectory were associated with parallel increases in impulsivity. Conclusions: individuals with divergent patterns of substance use during adolescence differ in their impulsiveness, primarily in general impulsivity and sensation seeking. Present findings suggest the relevance of these facets as possible targets for interventions preventing the onset and escalation of substance use.     

Estimating Creativity with a Multiple-Measurement Approach Within Scientific and Artistic Domains

This article presents the structure and the composition of a newly developed multifaceted test battery for the measurement of creativity within scientific and artistic domains. By integrating existing procedures for the evaluation of creativity, the new battery promises to become a comprehensive assessment of creativity, encompassing both domain-general and domain-specific components. In particular, the test battery was designed for the measurement of the 2 main stages of the creative thinking process: ideation and evaluation. The test battery also includes 2 measures of creative achievement and can be used to assess professional levels of creativity in artistic and scientific creativity, as well as everyday creativity. Because creative thinking is not an isolated phenomenon in human behavior, the battery includes the measurement of 2 constructs, intelligence and personality, both of which are highly relevant for creativity. Preliminary results from a vast administration campaign of this test battery are presented.     

Agonistic versus amicable targets of attack and defense: Consequences for the origin,function, and descriptive classification of play-fighting

Play-fighting appears to involve the behavior patterns of attack and defense otherwise seen in serious fighting. The degree of similarity, however, depends on the body targets attacked and defended during these forms of fighting. For many taxa, including diverse mammalian families and some birds, the same targets are attacked and defended during both play-fighting and serious fighting. However, for several species of muroid rodents, the targets of play-fighting are not the same as those of serious fighting. In these cases, the tactics of attack and defense are also different. It is argued that for these muroid species the playful targets have arisen from amicable behavior (e.g., social investigation, greeting, allogrooming) rather than, as appears to be the case in so many other taxa, from agonistic behavior. These data strongly suggest that “play-fighting” has evolved from different precursors in different taxa and thus has multiple origins. Furthermore, these data have an important bearing on the universal applicability of many of the suggested functions of play-fighting and also on how such behavior is to be described and classified.     

Play-fighting differs from serious fighting in both target of attack and tactics of fighting in the laboratory rat Rattus norvegicus

Play-fighting is often difficult to differentiate from inhibited or immature serious fighting because both may utilize many of the same behavior patterns. In the rat the two behaviors involve different targets of attack. During play-fighting, snout or oral contact is directed at the opponent's nape of the neck, whereas during serious fighting, male residents mostly direct their bites at the intruder's rump. Although similar to those used in serious fighting, the behavior patterns used during play-fighting are modified to achieve the different targets of attack. Even though the tactics of attack and defense appear more adult-like with increasing age, the playful targets persist well into adulthood.     

Lateral display as a combat tactic in richardson's ground squirrel Spermophilus richardsonii

During fighting, adult ground squirrels frequently face each other laterally, arch the back, and piloerect the tail. In a diurnal species, such distinctive visual cues seem consistent with the suggestion that the lateral display serves a communicatory function. However, a detailed analysis of videotaped sequences of free-living Richardson's ground squirrels from two consecutive mating seasons suggested that the lateral maneuver has a functional role in combat. Because most agonistic encounters involve chasing, the rump is the principal body area bitten. When stationary, however, the opponent's rump is bypassed, and bites are targeted at the shoulders. Defensively, a hip thrust is used to block such attacks to the shoulder by pushing the opponent's head away. Offensively, the lateral maneuver is used to push against the opponent, providing a vantage point from which to lunge at the opponent's shoulders. In addition, the defender can launch counterattacks at the side of the head. The lateral orientation provides the attacker with a means of evading such attacks, by swerving laterally away. In some encounters, both the offensive and defensive variations of the lateral maneuver were used by both opponents, often simultaneously. Therefore, irrespective of the signalling function of the lateral display, much of its occurrence during combat can be explained in terms of its role as a combat tactic. © 1996 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Analysis of the targets and tactics of conspecific attack and predatory attack in northern grasshopper mice onychomys leucogaster

Comparisons of tactics of fighting between species are often difficult to make since the body targets attacked may differ. Thus it becomes difficult to assess whether differences in fighting tactics are due to species-specific differences in the tactics themselves or due to the different targets attacked. A solution to this problem is to analyse the tactics of a species that attacks different targets under different circumstances. In this way, differences in tactics can be more readily attributed to differences in targets. In this study, resident male northern grasshopper mice (Onychomys leucogaster) were tested against intruding male conspecifics and against laboratory mice (Mus musculus domesticus). Conspecifics were mainly bitten on the lower dorsum, whereas prey were bitten and killed by bites to the nape of the neck. Therefore, it was possible to analyze the tactics of attack by grasshopper mice when attacking different body targets. For example, in order to defend the lower dorsum and the nape, both intruding conspecifics and prey adopted an upright defensive posture. Resident grasshopper mice used the lateral attack tactic to gain access to the lower flanks but not the nape. This illustrates that the lateral attack tactic is not merely a tactic suitable for overcoming the upright defense tactic, but is used in this context only when the target attacked is on the opponent's posterior dorsum. Such withinpecies comparison enables the identification of the contextual rules which govern the use of fighting tactics. © 1992 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Bilateral opercular syndrome and crossed aphemia due to a right insular lesion: A clinicopathological study

A right-handed male patient suddenly noted lower bilateral facial and lingual palsy, and inability to masticate and swallow, but with preserved automatic functions. He was mute, communicating only through writing, but verbal comprehension was normal (aphemia). On anatomopathological examination, an ischemic infarction of the entire right insula, with mild extension to the fronto-temporoparietal operculum was observed. The left hemisphere was normal. The clinical findings suggest a bilateral opercular syndrome due to a right hemisphere lesion and a crossed aphemia.