Preference for infant-directed speech in preterm infants

The current study explores the effects of exposure to maternal voice on infant sucking in preterm infants. Twenty-four preterm infants averaging 35 weeks gestational age were divided randomly into two groups. A contingency between high-amplitude sucking and presentation of maternal voice was instituted for one group while the other group served as a yoked control. No significant differences were observed in sucking of the two groups, but the degree of pitch modulation of the maternal voice predicted an increase in the rate of infant sucking.     

SAwSu: An Integrated Model of Associative and Reinforcement Learning

Successfully explaining and replicating the complexity and generality of human and animal learning will require the integration of a variety of learning mechanisms. Here, we introduce a computational model which integrates associative learning (AL) and reinforcement learning (RL). We contrast the integrated model with standalone AL and RL models in three simulation studies. First, a synthetic grid‐navigation task is employed to highlight performance advantages for the integrated model in an environment where the reward structure is both diverse and dynamic. The second and third simulations contrast the performances of the three models in behavioral experiments, demonstrating advantages for the integrated model in accounting for behavioral data.     

Constructive criticism: An evaluation of Buller and Hardcastle's genetic and neuroscientific arguments against Evolutionary Psychology

David Buller and Valerie Hardcastle have argued that various discoveries about the genetics and nature of brain development show that most “central” psychological mechanisms cannot be adaptations because the nature of the contribution from the environment on which they are based shows they are not heritable. Some philosophers and scientists have argued that a strong role for the environment is compatible with high heritability as long as the environment is highly stable down lineages. In this paper I support this view by arguing that the discoveries Buller and Hardcastle refer to either do not show as strong a role for the environment as they suggest, or these discoveries show that the brain's developmental process depends in many cases on input from the environment that is highly stable across generations.     

Stereotype Threat Effects on Learning From a Cognitively Demanding Mathematics Lesson

Stereotype threat—a situational context in which individuals are concerned about confirming a negative stereotype—is often shown to impact test performance, with one hypothesized mechanism being that cognitive resources are temporarily co‐opted by intrusive thoughts and worries, leading individuals to underperform despite high content knowledge and ability (see Schmader & Beilock, 2012 ). We test here whether stereotype threat may also impact initial student learning and knowledge formation when experienced prior to instruction. Predominantly African American fifth‐grade students provided either their race or the date before a videotaped, conceptually demanding mathematics lesson. Students who gave their race retained less learning over time, enjoyed the lesson less, reported a diminished desire to learn more, and were less likely to choose to engage in an optional math activity. The detrimental impact was greatest among students with high baseline cognitive resources. While stereotype threat has been well documented to harm test performance, the finding that effects extend to initial learning suggests that stereotype threat's contribution to achievement gaps may be greatly underestimated.     

情绪确定性对学习判断的影响

为了揭示情绪的确定性维度对学习判断的影响,本研究通过使用即时学习判断范式的两个实验,分别探讨了高确定性情绪(愤怒、快乐)和低确定性情绪(恐惧、惊喜)的被试在学习判断中的表现。结果显示:(1)愤怒组和快乐组花费在项目学习上的时间显著少于恐惧组和惊喜组;(2)愤怒组的学习判断值显著高于恐惧组;(3)愤怒组的学习判断准确性显著低于恐惧组。从而证明了情绪的确定性维度与学习判断之间的因果关系。     

服务型领导对员工建言行为的影响:领导-成员交换和学习目标取向的作用

通过对191名员工及其领导的配对问卷调查,探讨了服务型领导对员工建言行为的作用机制。结果发现:(1)服务型领导对员工建言行为有积极影响;(2)服务型领导通过领导-成员交换的中介效应影响员工建言行为;(3)员工的学习目标取向对领导-成员交换与建言行为之间的关系具有调节效应,即员工的学习目标取向越强,领导-成员交换对建言行为的影响越大;(4)学习目标取向调节了领导-成员交换对服务型领导-建言行为的中介作用。     

An Indecent Proposal: The Dual Functions of Indirect Speech

People often use indirect speech, for example, when trying to bribe a police officer by asking whether there might be “a way to take care of things without all the paperwork.” Recent game theoretic accounts suggest that a speaker uses indirect speech to reduce public accountability for socially risky behaviors. The present studies examine a secondary function of indirect speech use: increasing the perceived moral permissibility of an action. Participants report that indirect speech is associated with reduced accountability for unethical behavior, as well as increased moral permissibility and increased likelihood of unethical behavior. Importantly, moral permissibility was a stronger mediator of the effect of indirect speech on likelihood of action, for judgments of one's own versus others' unethical action. In sum, the motorist who bribes the police officer with winks and nudges may not only avoid public punishment but also maintain the sense that his actions are morally permissible.     

Do women perform fellatio as a mate retention behavior?

Men who report performing more mate retention behaviors, in general, and more benefit-provisioning mate retention behaviors, in particular, also report greater interest in, and spend more time, performing oral sex on their female partner. We extended these findings to a female sample to investigate whether women’s oral sex behaviors are related to their mate retention behaviors. We secured self-report data from 410 women residing in the United States or in Germany in a committed, sexual, heterosexual relationship. The results indicate that women who report performing more benefit-provisioning mate retention behaviors also report greater interest in, and spend more time, performing oral sex on their partner. Further, there are no sex differences in the magnitudes or directions of these relationships. The results suggest that both men and women are more interested in, and spend more time, performing oral sex on their partner as part of a benefit-provisioning strategy to increase their partner’s relationship satisfaction. We address limitations of this research, and discuss explanations for the results.     

Where birds flock to get together: The who,what, where,and why of mate searching

An understudied area of personality psychology is how personality traits might facilitate structuring of one’s environment toward goals like mating. In four studies (N = 1325), we examined (1) self-reports of where individuals go to find long-term and short-term mates, (2) how personality traits are associated with the use of these locations, and (3) how the sexes differ in their selection of mate search locations. Men were more likely than women were to use short-term (e.g., bars) than long-term (e.g., community events) niches, but did not differ in success in those niches and agreed on the nature of those niches. Slow life history traits, conscientiousness and agreeableness, were linked to preferences for long-term niches whereas, fast life history traits, narcissism and dishonesty, were linked to preferences for short-term mating niches.