Core knowledge and its limits: The domain of food

Adults, preschool children, and nonhuman primates detect and categorize food objects according to substance information, conveyed primarily by color and texture. In contrast, they perceive and categorize artifacts primarily by shape and rigidity. The present experiments investigated the origins of this distinction. Using a looking time procedure, Experiment 1 extended previous findings that rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) generalize learning about novel food objects by color over changes in shape. Six additional experiments then investigated whether human infants show the same signature patterns of perception and generalization. Nine-month-old infants failed to detect food objects in accord with their intrinsic properties, in contrast to rhesus monkeys tested in previous research with identical displays. Eight-month-old infants did not privilege substance information over other features when categorizing foods, even though they detected and remembered this information. Moreover, infants showed the same property generalization patterns when presented with foods and tools. The category-specific patterns of perception and categorization shown by human adults, children, and adult monkeys therefore were not found in human infants, providing evidence for limits to infants’ domains of knowledge.     

Conformism in the food processing techniques of white-faced capuchin monkeys (Cebus capucinus)

Researchers of “culture” have long been interested in the role of social learning in establishing patterns of behavioral variation in wild animals, but very few studies examine this issue using a developmental approach. This 7-year study examines the acquisition of techniques used to process Luehea candida fruits in a wild population of white-faced capuchin monkeys, Cebus capucinus, residing in and near Lomas Barbudal Biological Reserve, Costa Rica. The two techniques for extracting seeds (pounding or scrubbing) were approximately equal in efficiency, and subjects experimented with both techniques before settling on one technique—typically the one they most frequently observed. In a sample of 106 subjects that had already settled on a preferred technique, the females adopted the maternal technique significantly more often than expected by chance, but the males did not. Using a longitudinal approach, I examined the acquisition of Luehea processing techniques during the first 5 years of life. Regression analysis revealed that the technique most frequently observed (measured as proportion of Luehea processing bouts observed that used pounding as opposed to scrubbing) significantly predicted the technique adopted by female observers, particularly in the second year of life; the amount of impact of the observed technique on the practiced technique was somewhat less significant for male observers. These results held true for (a) observations of maternal technique only, (b) observations of technique used by all individuals other than the mother, and (c) observations of maternal and non-maternal techniques combined. Electronic supplementary material  The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

视觉线索诱发的香烟渴求感研究

本研究考察了90名男性青年志愿者(30名不吸烟者,60名香烟成瘾者被随机分成两组:被剥夺组和即时满足组,每组30名)在不同视觉线索刺激下诱发的心理渴求程度,以及喜欢和厌恶两种情绪的感受程度.视觉线索刺激为90张彩色图片,分为吸烟线索刺激图片(60张,包括与吸烟高度相关的图片和中度相关的图片,每类30张,和控制线索图片(30张,亦称与吸烟低度相关的图片),用计算机随机呈现给被试,每张图片呈现4秒钟,每呈现完一张图片,就让被试对该图片所诱发的香烟渴求程度,以及喜欢和厌恶感受进行评价.结果发现:(1)视觉线索能诱发香烟成瘾者对吸烟的渴求,并且诱发的渴求程度和剥夺状态有关,表现为被剥夺的香烟成瘾者的渴求程度高于即时满足的香烟成瘾者;(2)视觉线索与吸烟行为的相关程度越高,所诱发香烟成瘾者的心理渴求程度越强;(3)对香烟成瘾者来说,刺激图片对香烟渴求的诱发程度越高,引发的喜欢情绪越强,厌恶情绪越弱.     

Dietary patterns and intelligence in early and middle childhood

The association between intelligence and diet at 3.5 and 7 years was examined in 591 children of European descent. Approximately half of the children were born small-for-gestational age (birth weight ≤ 10th percentile). The relationship between IQ and diet (measured by food frequency) was investigated using multiple regression analyses. Eating margarine at least daily was associated with significantly lower IQ scores at 3.5 years in the total sample and at 7 years in SGA children. For all children, eating the recommended daily number of breads and cereals was associated with significantly higher IQ scores at 3.5 years, and those who ate fish at least weekly had significantly higher IQ scores at 7 years than those who did not. The consumption of fish, breads and cereals commeasurable with nutritional guidelines may be beneficial to children's cognitive development. In contrast, consuming margarine daily was associated with poorer cognitive functioning. Further research is needed to identify the nutrients that may underlie this association.     

The smart gut: Tracking affective associative learning with measures of “liking”, facial electromyography, and preferential looking

We demonstrate here that initially neutral items can acquire specific value based on their associated outcomes, and that responses of physiological systems to such previously meaningless stimuli can rapidly reflect this associative history. Each participant participated in an associative learning task in which four neutral abstract pictures were each repeatedly paired with one of four foods that varied in valence and magnitude. Over the course of learning, participants’ “liking” ratings of and preferences for each picture came to reflect the value of the food with which it was paired. The abstract pictures also elicited physiological responses characteristic of the foods with which they were paired, including changes in facial electromyography (EMG) and preferential looking. A logistic modeling procedure showed that learning parameters, such as the rate at which participants learned the values associated with the pictures, were similar across food outcomes of different value.     

From Glossy to Greasy: The Impact of Learned Associations on Perceptions of Food Healthfulness

We demonstrate that consumers have learned that unhealthy snacks such as potato chips tend to be sold in glossy packages, whereas healthier snacks such as crackers tend to be sold in matte packages (in studies 1–3). As a result, consumers who see a snack food package with a glossy [matte] surface will infer lesser [greater] healthfulness of its contents (study 4), consume less [more] of it (study 5), and be more likely to choose a glossy [matte] package from an assortment of snack packages if motivated to engage in tasty [healthful] eating (study 6). Theoretical and managerial implications as well as future research opportunities are discussed.     

Coffee cues elevate arousal and reduce level of construal

Coffee and tea are two beverages commonly-consumed around the world. Therefore, there is much research regarding their physiological effects. However, less is known about their psychological meanings. Derived from a predicted lay association between coffee and arousal, we posit that exposure to coffee-related cues should increase arousal, even in the absence of actual ingestion, relative to exposure to tea-related cues. We further suggest that higher arousal levels should facilitate a concrete level of mental construal as conceptualized by Construal Level Theory. In four experiments, we find that coffee cues prompted participants to see temporal distances as shorter and to think in more concrete, precise terms. Both subjective and physiological arousal explain the effects. We situate our work in the literature that connects food and beverage to cognition or decision-making. We also discuss the applied relevance of our results as coffee and tea are among the most prevalent beverages globally.     

镜像神经在药物心理渴求中的作用及机制

心理渴求是物质依赖者希望重新感受神经活性药物效应的渴望,其神经机制的早期影像研究,主要集中在前额皮质和奖赏中枢.镜像神经是新近发现的位于动作脑区,能理解、分析所观察动作的目的和性质,并通过内隐模拟,产生直接映射式的情绪和认知的神经.最新的研究发现尼古丁成瘾者在相关线索的刺激下,其镜像神经也能被激活.本研究旨在探索镜像神经参与相关线索下心理渴求形成的机制,为发展更可靠的依赖行为的生物学标记提供另一个重要目标,帮助人们更好地理解药物渴求形成的神经生物学基础与过程.     

Identifying Emergent Social Networks at a Federally Qualified Health Center-Based Farmers’ Market

Identifying potential mechanisms connecting farmers’ market interventions with health, economic, and community outcomes could inform strategies for addressing health disparities. The present study used social network theory to guide the in-depth examination of naturally occurring social interactions at a farmers’ market located at a federally qualified health center located in a rural, low-income community. Trained observers recorded 61 observation logs at the market over 18 weeks. Thematic analysis revealed a range of actors and nonhuman facilitators instrumental to the farmers’ market context. These actors connected with one another for communication and relationship development, economic and financial exchange, education, resource sharing, community ownership of the farmers’ market, and conflict resolution. These interactions provided opportunities for social networks to develop among attendees, which may have facilitated the acquisition of social supports related to improved health, economic and community outcomes. Results provide insight into the role social networks may play in mediating the relationship between a farmers’ market intervention and individual benefits. Findings also contribute to defining the typology of social networks, which may further disentangle the complex relationships between social networks and health outcomes. Future research should identify strategies for purposefully targeting social networks as a way to reduce diet-related health disparities.