Sunk cost: pigeons (Columba livia), too, show bias to complete a task rather than shift to another

The sunk cost effect involves the bias to stay with an alternative because one has already invested resources, even when there is a better alternative available. In a series of experiments, at various points during a 30-peck requirement, pigeons (Columba livia) could choose between completing the response requirement (at a different location in Experiment 1 or the same location in Experiments 3 and 4) and switching to a constant number of pecks. In three experiments, the pigeons showed a bias to complete the pecks already started, even when that required more pecking. We also demonstrated that the bias depended on the initial investment and was not produced merely because the pigeons preferred a variable alternative over a fixed alternative. The deviation from optimal choice suggests that pigeons show a bias similar to the sunk cost effect in humans.     

Pigeons can discriminate “good” and “bad” paintings by children

Humans have the unique ability to create art, but non-human animals may be able to discriminate “good” art from “bad” art. In this study, I investigated whether pigeons could be trained to discriminate between paintings that had been judged by humans as either “bad” or “good”. To do this, adult human observers first classified several children’s paintings as either “good” (beautiful) or “bad” (ugly). Using operant conditioning procedures, pigeons were then reinforced for pecking at “good” paintings. After the pigeons learned the discrimination task, they were presented with novel pictures of both “good” and “bad” children’s paintings to test whether they had successfully learned to discriminate between these two stimulus categories. The results showed that pigeons could discriminate novel “good” and “bad” paintings. Then, to determine which cues the subjects used for the discrimination, I conducted tests of the stimuli when the paintings were of reduced size or grayscale. In addition, I tested their ability to discriminate when the painting stimuli were mosaic and partial occluded. The pigeons maintained discrimination performance when the paintings were reduced in size. However, discrimination performance decreased when stimuli were presented as grayscale images or when a mosaic effect was applied to the original stimuli in order to disrupt spatial frequency. Thus, the pigeons used both color and pattern cues for their discrimination. The partial occlusion did not disrupt the discriminative behavior suggesting that the pigeons did not attend to particular parts, namely upper, lower, left or right half, of the paintings. These results suggest that the pigeons are capable of learning the concept of a stimulus class that humans name “good” pictures. The second experiment showed that pigeons learned to discriminate watercolor paintings from pastel paintings. The subjects showed generalization to novel paintings. Then, as the first experiment, size reduction test, grayscale test, mosaic processing test and partial occlusion test were carried out. The results suggest that the pigeons used both color and pattern cues for the discrimination and show that non-human animals, such as pigeons, can be trained to discriminate abstract visual stimuli, such as pictures and may also have the ability to learn the concept of “beauty” as defined by humans.     

The effect of marker size on the perception of an empty interval

Research shows that the time that is spent perceiving a brief visual stimulus is experienced as increasing as the size of the stimulus increases. We examined whether the experienced duration of time that is spent attending the perception of an empty interval—demarcated by the offset of one marker and the onset of a second marker— depends on the size of the markers themselves. Previous theories predict that the perceived time that is spent viewing offset-to-onset intervals decreases as the size of the markers increases, and that the perceived time that is spent viewing the markers increases. We demonstrated that empty intervals between the presentations of large markers were perceived to be longer in duration than those occurring between the presentations of small markers, and that the second marker was critical to this effect of physical size on apparent duration. We report that the size effect disappeared when the interval was filled with the presentation of a circle, and we conclude that the intensity of the second marker altered perceptions in an empty-interval-specific manner.     

Making a case for case studies in psychotherapy training: A small step towards establishing an empirical basis for psychotherapy training

The evidence debate in psychotherapy pays little attention to developing an evidence base for training practices. Understanding effective training requires an examination of what makes training work. This article examines the role of case studies in psychotherapy training. This has not been articulated explicitly or researched systematically in spite of its cardinal importance. An analysis of the role of case studies in psychotherapy training is presented. Reading, watching, or hearing about cases can offer novice psychotherapists access to a closed world; access to psychological theory in action; access to whole courses of therapy; access to different approaches; access to significant moments; access to the therapeutic relationship; access to a wide range of client types; access to working in different contexts; and the opportunity of identifying with therapists and clients. Writing or presenting cases offer students the opportunity of: learning to integrate information into a relevant whole; being in the ‘hot seat’; learning to give appropriate feedback; assessing the validity of interpretations, inferences, and interventions; adapting methods to suit the client; and learning to collaborate with other professionals. The paper presents directions for future research into psychotherapy training, specifically proposing an international survey of training practices at psychotherapy training institutions.     

Corporate Culture and Sales Force Management in Japan and America

Abstract

Managers' personal values are a key aspect of corporate culture. Sales representatives' agreement with their managers' values (hereafter “value congruence”) can be expected to influence sales performance, satisfaction, and propensity to quit. These propositions are investigated in two countries. One hundred seventy-five sales representatives and 93 sales managers from a Japanese firm and 146 sales representatives and 21 sales managers from a comparable American firm participated in the study. A questionnaire was distributed to the managers and representatives. Value congruence was found to be weakly related to performance, but strongly related to satisfaction and propensity to quit for both cultural groups. The Japanese group was found to be higher in value congruence and propensity to quit, but lower in satisfaction. Suggested are implications for future research and for managers.     

Trust in organismic development, autonomy support, and adaptation among mothers and their children

The current studies examined relations between mothers’ trust in organismic development, autonomy supportive parenting, and adaptation among mothers and their young children. Study 1 showed that trust in organismic development was distinct from optimism, neuroticism, and social desirability whereas it correlated with having relaxed expectations for developmental milestones and making fewer social comparisons about one’s child. Study 2 used observational methods to demonstrate a significant link between trust in organismic development and mothers behaving in an autonomy-supportive rather than controlling manner toward their 1-year-old child during puzzle solving activities. Study 3 used a 1 year prospective design to show that trust in first time mothers was associated with better maternal and child adaptation over time, controlling for initial levels of adaptation and child temperament. Study 4 explored possible social/political antecedents of trust in organismic development by comparing the beliefs of first time mothers from Canada and Norway. The four studies suggest that trust in organismic development fosters autonomy supportive parenting practices and positive maternal and child adaptation. These findings are discussed from the perspective of self-determination theory.

Analyses of facial attractiveness on feminised and juvenilised faces

We conducted two experiments to investigate the psychological factors affecting the attractiveness of composite faces. Feminised or juvenilised Japanese faces were created by morphing between average male and female adult faces or between average male (female) adult and boy (girl) faces. In experiment 1, we asked the participants to rank the attractiveness of these faces. The results showed moderately juvenilised faces to be highly attractive. In experiment 2, we analysed the impressions the participants had of the composite faces by the semantic-differential method and determined the factors that largely affected attractiveness. On the basis of the factor scores, we plotted the faces in factor spaces and analysed the locations of attractive faces. We found that most of the attractive juvenilised faces involved impressions corresponding to an augmentation of femininity, characterised by the factors of 'elegance', 'mildness', and 'youthfulness', which the attractive faces potentially had.     

Attentional bias to direct gaze in a dot-probe paradigm

Previous research has suggested that a singly presented facial stimulus having a direct gaze holds spatial attention. This study examined whether facial stimulus having a direct gaze can also capture spatial attention in a relative dot-probe paradigm (facial stimulus having a direct gaze was presented concurrently with that having an averted gaze). The results showed that participants oriented their spatial attention to a facial stimulus having a direct gaze rather than to that with an averted gaze. This attentional bias depended on gaze-perception mechanisms as observed in the lack of attentional bias to a direct gaze from unnatural-looking eyes (i.e., white pupil/iris and black sclera). These findings raise the possibility that the attentional effect implicated in the perception of a direct gaze is induced regardless of the stimulus context.     

Genomic Counseling: Next Generation Counseling

Personalized medicine continues to expand with the development and increasing use of genome-based testing. While these advances present new opportunities for diagnosis and risk assessment, they also present challenges to clinical delivery. Genetic counselors will play an important role in ushering in this new era of testing; however, it will warrant a shift from traditional genetic counseling to “genomic counseling.” This shift will be marked by a move from reactive genetic testing for diagnosis of primarily single-gene diseases to proactive genome-based testing for multiple complex diseases for the purpose of disease prevention. It will also require discussion of risk information for a number of diseases, some of which may have low relative risks or weak associations, and thus, may not substantially impact clinical care. Additionally, genomic counselors will expand their roles, particularly in the area of health promotion to reduce disease risk. This additional role will require a style of counseling that is more directive than traditional counseling and require greater knowledge about risk reducing behaviors and disease screening.