The ecological rationality of delay tolerance: insights from capuchin monkeys

Both human and non-human animals often face decisions between options available at different times, and the capacity of delaying gratification has usually been considered one of the features distinguishing humans from other animals. However, this characteristic can widely vary across individuals, species, and types of task and it is still unclear whether it is accounted for by phylogenetic relatedness, feeding ecology, social structure, or metabolic rate. To disentangle these hypotheses, we evaluated temporal preferences in capuchin monkeys, South-American primates that, despite splitting off from human lineage approximately 35 million years ago, show striking behavioural analogies with the great apes. Then, we compared capuchins’ performance with that of the other primate species tested so far with the same procedure. Overall, capuchins showed a delay tolerance significantly higher than closely related species, such as marmosets and tamarins, and comparable to that shown by great apes. Capuchins’ tool use abilities might explain their comparatively high preference for delayed options in inter-temporal choices. Moreover, as in humans, capuchin females showed a greater delay tolerance than males, possibly because of their less opportunistic foraging style. Thus, our results shed light on the evolutionary origins of self-control supporting explanations of delay tolerance in terms of feeding ecology.     

Dyadic coping and marital adjustment during pregnancy: A cross‐sectional study of Italian couples expecting their first child

Although the transition to parenthood is currently defined as a normative event, it can be potentially stressful for the couple relationship as it may contribute to psychological distress and reduced marital satisfaction. Using the systemic‐transactional conceptualisation of stress and coping as a theoretical framework, we claimed that the ability of the parents‐to‐be to adjust to their new roles and identity is influenced by dyadic coping strategies. This study examined the effects of dyadic coping on marital adjustment in a sample of 78 primiparous couples. Women and partners completed the Dyadic Adjustment Scale and the Dyadic Coping Questionnaire during late pregnancy. Data were analysed using the Actor‐Partner Interdependence Model. Results revealed that both women and partners' scores on positive dyadic coping behaviours contributed to higher marital adjustment, suggesting that risks for marital dissatisfaction may exist for couples not able to implement adaptive dyadic coping strategies, or for those unsatisfied with the implemented coping behaviours.     

Categorization of above and below spatial relations by tufted capuchin monkeys (Cebus apella)

Using a matching-to-sample procedure, the researchers investigated tufted capuchins' (Cebus apella) ability to form categorical representations of above and below spatial relations. In Experiment 1, 5 capuchins correctly matched bar-dot stimuli on the basis of the relative above and below location of their constituent elements. The monkeys showed a positive transfer of performance both when the bar-dot distance in the two comparison stimuli differed from that of the sample and when the actual location of the matching stimulus and the nonmatching stimulus on the apparatus was modified. In Experiment 2, the researchers systematically changed the shapes of the located object (the dot) or the reference object (the horizontal bar). These manipulations did not affect the monkeys' performance. Overall, the data suggest that capuchins can form abstract, conceptual-like representations for above and below spatial relations.     

Attentional biases for threat after fear-related autobiographical recall

Background : Previous studies suggested that affective state could enhance stimulus salience and modulate attention allocation for mood-congruent information, but contrasting data have been reported on the effects of mood induction on attentional biases for threat (ABTs) in non-clinical individuals.

Objective : We aimed to assess whether laboratory-induced negative mood can increase individuals’ tendency to allocate attention on threatening stimuli, thus determining a difficulty in attentional disengagement from threat. We also aimed at assessing whether level of trait anxiety could modulate the effect of mood induction on attentional biases.

Methods : We used an autobiographical episode recall procedure for mood induction (fear, happiness and neutral episode recall), and an exogenous cueing task with threatening and non-threatening images to assess attentional biases in 120 undergraduate students.

Results: Participants showed a significant difficulty in disengaging attention from threat after recalling fear-related episodes, independently from their trait anxiety level.

Conclusions: These findings clarify that the ABTs are not exclusive to anxiety disorders or high trait anxiety individuals, and could also arise in non-clinical individuals in a fearful context.     

Newborns’ attention is driven by the translational movement

The present study investigated whether 2-day-old newborns are able to discriminate two translating meaningless Point-Light Displays (PLD) videos, in which the shape of one of them changes compared to that of the other along the trajectory, independently from movement kinematics, and if this ability is present both when stimuli differed at the end or at the beginning of the movement. To manipulate the instant in which along the movement the difference between stimuli was evident, and to maintain every unspecific dissimilarity possibly determining the preference, videos were played in a loop either forward or backwards. In Experiment 1, PLD stimuli moved with natural accelerated-decelerated kinematics; in Experiment 2 they moved at constant velocity. Four groups of newborns were submitted to the preferential looking technique experiments. Results showed that newborns looked longer at natural kinematics and that, irrespective of the type of kinematics, they discriminated the two stimuli only when videos were played forward, that is, only when stimuli differed at the end of the movement. These data suggest that, independently from kinematics, movement translational components induce newborns to allocate attention at the end of the observed movement. Given the strict link between attention and eye movements, we suggest that this effect may bootstrap the system and give rise to proactive gaze, the typical gaze behaviour present during executed and observed goal-directed actions.     

Do Coping Strategies Discriminate Eating Disordered Individuals Better Than Eating Disorder Features? An Explorative Study on Female Inpatients with Anorexia and Bulimia Nervosa

The purpose of this explorative research was to examine how the COPE (Coping Orientation to Problem Experienced Inventory), an established instrument for measuring coping styles, and EDI-2 (Eating Disorder Inventory-2), a widely used questionnaire for assessing psychological and behavioural features of eating disorders (ED), discriminate among healthy individuals, inpatients with anorexia nervosa (AN) and inpatients with bulimia nervosa (BN). A discriminant analysis approach was used. Results showed that coping styles such as positive attitude, planning and social support are even more discriminative variables than eating disorder features. Implications for further studies are discussed.     

Can the medical resonance therapy music affect autonomous innervation of cerebral arteries?

The purpose of this investigation was to study the effects of Medical Resonance Therapy Music (MRT-Music) upon autonomous innervation of cerebral arteries by examining slow spontaneous oscillations of cerebral blood flow (SSO) using transcranial Doppler ultrasound (TCD). TCD detects SSO with 3–9 cycles per minute (M-waves) and 0.5–2 cycles per minute (B-waves). The SSO are caused by rhythmic diameter changes of the medium and small cerebral arteries. Six patients aged 24–65 years suffering from tension headache were treated with MRT-Music. Twelve additional patients were examined with TCD only to register SSO for further spectral analysis. After fast Fourier transformation four groups of peaks were registered on the SSO spectra, divided into four rhythms: A. 0.0–0.02 Hz, B. 0.02–0.033 Hz, C. 0.06–0.09 Hz, D. 0.09–0.15 Hz and an intermediate diapason of 0.034–0.059 Hz. Spectral analysis of the SSO showed changes between initial and final amplitude peaks in all patients. In contrast to A-, B-and D-rhythms, the reduction of peaks in the C-diapason was statistically significant (31–60%, P 3D0.04, CI 3D95%) for patients treated with MRT-Music. All patients treated with the MRT-Music reported a relief of headache while and after treatment.     

Persons with acquired brain injury and multiple disabilities access stimulation independently through microswitch-based technology

The possibility of enabling two adults with acquired brain injury and profound multiple disabilities to use microswitch-based technology to attain preferred environmental stimuli on their own was assessed. Each of the participants was provided with two microswitches that could be activated by right and left head-turning or head-bending responses. The microswitches were introduced sequentially according to a multiple probe design across microswitches (responses) and allowed access to different sets of auditory or visual stimuli. Eventually, the two microswitches were made available simultaneously. Sessions lasted 5 min. Each participant learned to use the two microswitches successfully and maintained consistent levels of responding when they were simultaneously available. During this phase, both participants showed large within-session variations in their right and left response frequencies, with one of them showing an overall prevalence of the left-side response. The importance of assistive technology within programs for persons with acquired brain injury and multiple disabilities is discussed.     

Identity concept learning in matching-to-sample tasks by tufted capuchin monkeys (Cebus apella)

The abstract concept of equivalence is considered one of the bases of higher-order cognition, and it has been the subject of considerable research in comparative cognition. This study examined the conditions under which tufted capuchin monkeys (Cebus apella) are able to acquire an identity concept. Six capuchin monkeys were trained to solve a visual matching-to-sample (MTS) task on the basis of perceptual identity. The acquisition of the identity rule was inferred from the subject’s ability to solve transfer tests with novel stimuli. We evaluated the ability of the capuchin monkeys to match the shape of novel stimuli after training with both several small stimulus sets (Experiment 1) and a large stimulus set (Experiment 2). Moreover, we examined the ability of capuchins to transfer the concept to novel visual dimensions, such as colour and size and to transfer to novel spatial arrangements of the stimuli (Experiment 2). We demonstrated that the ability of capuchins to match novel stimuli was improved by increasing the number of stimuli used during training (Experiments 1 and 2) and that after a widely applicable identity concept based on the stimulus shape was acquired, the capuchins were able to match stimuli according to an identity rule based on both the colour and size of the stimuli and when the spatial arrangement of the stimuli was varied (Experiment 2). This study is the first to demonstrate that the size of the training set affects the acquisition of an abstract identity concept in an MTS task in non-human primates.