Learning of monotonic and nonmonotonic sequences in domesticated horses (Equus callabus) and chickens (Gallus domesticus)

[Hulse and Dorsky, 1977] and [Hulse and Dorsky, 1979] found that rats, like humans, learn sequences following a simple rule-based structure more quickly than those lacking a rule-based structure. Through two experiments, we explored whether two additional species—domesticated horses (Equus callabus) and chickens (Gallus domesticus)—would show this same propensity. In both experiments, subjects encountered either a structured or unstructured sequence of food quantities in a runway paradigm. In both experiments, subjects exposed to structured patterns of food quantities learned to track sequences of food quantities more efficiently than those exposed to patterns lacking such structure by running fast for large food quantities and slowly for small food quantities. These results provide evidence that horses and chickens track simple sequences similarly to humans and rats.     

Preschoolers' knowledge about the appearance of proper names

Preschoolers' knowledge of the appearance of proper names was tested in three experiments with 25 boys and 22 girls from low-income families. Children from a Head Start program, whose parents signed a permission letter, participated. Their ages ranged from 3 yr. 6 mo. to 5 yr. 6 mo. (M = 52.2 mo., SD = 4.9). When shown consonant-vowel-consonant trigrams such as Rit or baF or dEg with various capitalization patterns, the children showed a tendency to recognize that CVC trigrams with the first letter capitalized or all letters capitalized were the ones most likely to represent a person's name. When their own names were substituted, which typically contained more than three letters, their performance was markedly better. Children also had a strong tendency to consider trigrams of Latin letters as more likely to be a person's name than trigrams of non-Latin characters (e.g., Sanskrit).     

Do Guns in the Home Predict Gender and Relationship Attitudes? An Exploratory Study

This study explores the potential relationship of guns in students’ homes with attitudes indicative of tolerance of violence, negative attitudes toward women and their roles, and attitudes suggestive of myths regarding sexual assault. Seniors in Kentucky high schools whose families possessed guns (n = 1,749) produced higher scores on scales measuring these variables as well as on scales of relationship dependency and religious involvement than seniors whose families did not own guns (n = 912). Students whose families owned more than 10 guns tended to score highest on these measures compared with students whose families owned no guns or a few guns. Because of lower effect sizes, these significant associations require further investigation.     

The Relationship Between Emotional Intelligence and Performance Among College Basketball Players

This study explored the nature of the relationship between muscle dysmorphia symptoms and self-concept as well as negative affect variables. Female (n = 183) and male (n = 103) college students completed a packet of questionnaires. Data were analyzed using canonical correlation analyses and revealed significant relationships between the sets of variables. Specifically, the variance explained by muscle dysmorphia symptoms in self-concept and negative affect variables was greater than the variance explained in muscle dysmorphia symptoms by self-concept and negative affect. Perceived body attractiveness and social physique anxiety were the individual variables that predominantly contributed to the multivariate relationships.     

A tool for measuring stress tolerance in elite athletes

The purpose of this investigation was to explore the nature of pre-performance routines used in golf. Six male international golfers were recruited to participate in this study (Age M = 29; handicap M = +1.5; years playing golf M = 16.25). The golfers were interviewed individually to gain an understanding of participants’ perceptions of the nature and function of their pre-performance routines. The data were thematically analyzed using interpretative phenomenological analysis. In total, 9 super-ordinate themes emerged: allocation of attention, psychological skills, shot selection, routine mind set, routine composition, compulsive behaviors, routine evolution/application, top players, and moderating factors. Results suggest that the development of routines is dependent on the personality, coping resources, and situational appraisals of each individual performer.     

Possibilities,models, and intuitionistic logic: Ian Rumfitt’s The boundary stones of thought

AIan Rumfitt's new book presents a distinctive and intriguing philosophy of logic, one that ultimately settles on classical logic as the uniquely correct one–or at least rebuts some prominent arguments against classical logic. The purpose of this note is to evaluate Rumfitt's perspective by focusing on some themes that have occupied me for some time: (i) the role and importance of model theory and, in particular, the place of counter-arguments in establishing invalidity, (ii) higher-order logic, and (iii) the logical pluralism/relativism articulated in my own recent *Varieties of logic*.     

Deciding the Fate of Others: The Cognitive Underpinnings of Racially Biased Juror Decision Making

In criminal law, jurors are supposed to ignore defendant race when considering factual matters of culpability. However, when judging the merits of a criminal case, jurors’ ability (or inability) to avoid bias may affect verdicts. Fact-based decision making expend cognitive resources, while heuristic-based decisions (e.g., using criminal stereotypes) conserve resources. Here, we investigated whether differences in cognitive resources and prejudice attitudes about Blacks influenced trial outcomes. We tested the impact of working memory capacity (WMC), cognitive load, prejudice, and target race (Black, White) on penalties ascribed to fictional criminal defendants in ambiguous-fact cases. Results showed that when “loaded,” prejudiced-low-WMC persons supported guilty verdicts with higher confidence more often for Black than White defendants. Conversely, regardless of WMC or prejudice attitude, participants penalized White defendants more often when not loaded. We suggest that cognitive resources and prejudice attitude influence fact-based decisions. Links to juror judgments and potential trial outcomes are discussed.