How do giant pandas (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) respond to varying properties of enrichments? A comparison of behavioral profiles among five enrichment items

This study investigated the responses of 14 giant pandas (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) to 5 enrichment items (3 manipulable objects, 2 feeding devices) that possess different properties affording varying behavioral opportunities. Enrichment items were quantitatively described by using 12 properties. Pandas displayed no preferences among the 5 enrichment treatments, all of which had similar positive effects on behavioral measures of well-being (behavioral diversity, stereotypy). However, each item promoted a distinct behavioral profile, readily mapped onto the enrichment's properties. These results suggest that it may be important to stimulate behavioral diversity but that specific behaviors or enrichment properties are not required. The unique behavioral topography seen with these enrichments also suggests that providing multiple enrichments with varying properties will maximize overall behavioral diversity.     

Illicit drug use and risky sexual behavior among African American and Puerto Rican urban adolescents: the longitudinal links

The authors assessed whether (a) early illicit drug use predicted later risky sexual activity, (b) early risky sex predicted later illicit drug use, and (c) common factors affected both risky sexual behavior and illicit drug use. African American and Puerto Rican youth completed questionnaires in their classrooms at Time 1 (T1) and face-to-face interviews with the authors in their homes 5 years later at Time 2 (T2). Logistic regression analyses showed the association between T1 illicit drug use and T2 risky sexual activity and between T1 risky sexual behavior and T2 illicit drug use. With few exceptions, T1 illicit drug use was associated with all of the T2 risky sexual behaviors. After controlling for demographic factors, the authors found that multiple sex partners at T1 was not related to illicit drug use at T2. Condom use at T1 was related to illicit drug use at T2, whereas sexually transmitted diseases and adolescent pregnancy were not related to this drug use. The findings indicated that assessments of and treatments for substance use should focus on the risky sexual behaviors that seem to accompany illicit drug use.     

Is caregiving hazardous to one's physical health? A meta-analysis

Caring for a family member with dementia is generally regarded as a chronically stressful process, with potentially negative physical health consequences. However, no quantitative analysis has been conducted on this literature. The authors combined the results of 23 studies to compare the physical health of caregivers with demographically similar noncaregivers. When examined across 11 health categories, caregivers exhibited a slightly greater risk for health problems than did noncaregivers. However, sex and the health category assessed moderated this relationship. Stronger relationships occurred with stress hormones, antibodies, and global reported health. The authors argue that a theoretical model is needed that relates caregiver stressors to illness and proffers moderating roles for vulnerabilities and resources and mediating roles for psychosocial distress and health behaviors.     

Contributions of thinking styles to critical thinking dispositions

The main purpose of the author's research was to investigate whether thinking styles significantly contribute to critical thinking dispositions. Two samples of Chinese university students, one from Beijing and the other from Nanjing, participated in the study. The participants responded to the Thinking Styles Inventory (R. J. Sternberg & R. K. Wagner, 1992) based on Sternberg's theory of mental self-government and to the California Critical Thinking Disposition Inventory (P. Facione & N. Facione, 1992), which assessed the 7 dimensions of the critical thinking construct as defined in The Delphi Report (see P. Facione, N. Facione, & C. Giancarlo, 2001). Results from both samples supported the prediction that thinking styles statistically contribute to individual differences in critical thinking dispositions. These findings have implications not only for classroom instruction and assessment but also for academic and nonacademic program development.     

Effects of experience on fetal voice recognition

Abstract - The ability of human fetuses to recognize their own mother's voice was examined. Sixty term fetuses were assigned to one of two conditions during which they were exposed to a tape recording of their mother or a female stranger reading a passage. Voice stimuli were delivered through a loudspeaker held approximately 10 cm above the maternal abdomen and played at an average of 95 dB SPL. Each condition consisted of three 2-min periods: no stimulus, voice (mother or stranger), and no stimulus. Fetal heart rate increased in response to the mother's voice and decreased in response to the stranger's; both responses were sustained for 4 min. The finding of differential behavior in response to a familiar versus a novel voice provides evidence that experience influences fetal voice processing. It supports an epigenetic model of speech perception, presuming an interaction between genetic expression of neural development and species-specific experience.     

A parallel distributed processing model of stimulus-stimulus and stimulus-response compatibility.

A parallel distributed processing (PDP) model is proposed to account for choice reaction time (RT) performance in diverse cognitive and perceptual tasks such as the Stroop task, the Simon task, the Eriksen flanker task, and the stimulus-response compatibility task that are interrelated in terms of stimulus-stimulus and stimulus-response overlap (Kornblum, 1992). In multilayered (input-intermediate-output) networks, neuron-like nodes that represent stimulus and response features are grouped into mutually inhibitory modules that represent stimulus and response dimensions. The stimulus-stimulus overlap is implemented by a convergence of two input modules onto a common intermediate module, and the stimulus-response overlap by direct pathways representing automatic priming of outputs. Mean RTs are simulated in various simple tasks and, furthermore, predictions are generated for complex tasks based on performance in simpler tasks. The match between simulated and experimental results lends strong support for our PDP model of compatibility.     

儿童对抽象画情绪寓意理解的发展及文化因素的影响

本实验旨在探索儿童对抽象图画情绪寓意敏感性的发展规律以及文化因素的影响。被试年龄跨度从 5岁至高中学生。根据被试利用形态、主题、情绪等图片特性作为识辨依据的特点来发现规律。儿童对抽象图画寓意敏感性的发展与表征水平相关。年幼儿童只能利用颜色或图形等单一信息维量进行判断 ,年长儿童及中学生可以综合利用形态、主题、情绪等多个维量判断。在寓意明确的图片识辨中 ,儿童对积极寓意的识辨成绩较优。在双关寓意的图片识辨中 ,儿童组倾向于选择具有积极寓意的线索 ,而中学生组会受到识辨经验的影响。文化与教育方式影响儿童对抽象图画情绪寓意的理解。中国幼教方式有助于儿童对图画认知与情绪成分的识辨。     

Nest box entrance hole size can influence nest site selection and nest defence behaviour in Japanese tits

Animal Cognition - Birds have the ability to assess the risk of predation in their environment and adjust their antipredation strategies based on this risk information. However, whether nest site...     

日本的宗教法与宗教管理

自1946年颁布宗教法人令,日本的宗教法历经十余次修订,但其一贯的原则都是宗教自由、政教分离,政府对宗教法人的自治权和自律权给予充分的尊重。在宗教界内部的管理方面,宗议会制度和责任役员制度体现了民主的原则和平等的原则,为战后宗教的发展提供了制度性保障。由于宽松的政策环境和民主化管理,宗教在日本战后获得了很大发展。但1995年的奥姆真理教事件之后,日本政府对宗教法做出了重大修改,在尊重教团的自律性前提下强化了政府对宗教教团的管理,宗教团体的活动空间受到一定的限制。