Associative learning in baboons (Papio papio) and humans (Homo sapiens): species differences in learned attention to visual features

We examined attention shifting in baboons and humans during the learning of visual categories. Within a conditional matching-to-sample task, participants of the two species sequentially learned two two-feature categories which shared a common feature. Results showed that humans encoded both features of the initially learned category, but predominantly only the distinctive feature of the subsequently learned category. Although baboons initially encoded both features of the first category, they ultimately retained only the distinctive features of each category. Empirical data from the two species were analyzed with the 1996 ADIT connectionist model of Kruschke. ADIT fits the baboon data when the attentional shift rate is zero, and the human data when the attentional shift rate is not zero. These empirical and modeling results suggest species differences in learned attention to visual features. Received: 30 May 1998 / Accepted after revision: 13 September 1998     

On the nature of nature: Experimental studies in the power of rhetoric

This paper reports two studies which investigate the effects of different definitions of the natural upon human preferences. The first study is designed to show that items are deemed more acceptable when defined as natural than when defined as non-natural. Subjects rated the acceptability of cannabis use after reading a text which either described it as a natural herb or as a drug. Acceptability ratings were significantly higher in the former condition. The second study examines how the way in which the category ‘nature’ is defined affects the acceptability of changes to the environment. Subjects watched videos which showed pictures of landscapes and then superimposed changes which consisted either of wild, non-human elements (W), human elements which fitted with the colour, texture and contours of the original (F), or human elements which were unfitting in terms of these criteria (U). It was predicted that, when we defined nature as virgin territory, W changes would be more acceptable than F or U changes. However when we defined nature as visual harmony, it was predicted that W and F changes would be equally acceptable but U changes would be less so. The results largely confirm these predictions. In discussion we argue for the importance of studying how processes of defining nature affect environment action, and for the use of experimental techniques to complement discursive investigations of such processes.     

Research ethics committees: a regional approach

Guidelines for Institutional Review Boards (IRBs) or research ethics committees exist at national and international levels. These guidelines are based on ethical principles and establish an internationally acceptable standard for the review and conduct of medical research. Having attained a multinational consensus about what these fundamental guidelines should be, IRBs are left to interpret the guidelines and devise their own means of implementing them. Individual and community values bear on the interpretation of the guidelines so different IRBs attain different levels of effectiveness. In the Caribbean and Pan American regions there are few IRBs. Obstacles to the establishment and function of IRBs are exacerbated in developing regions like these by differences in language, literacy, and local value systems; education, administrative expertise, facilities, and access to information are also limited. A regional IRB network might facilitate more uniform ethical review in developing countries, and simplify IRB procedures. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Influence of mechanical factors on movement units in infant reaching

In a number of studies it is assumed that movement units (combinations of an acceleration and a deceleration in the tangential velocity profile) are a reflection of the control process. In this study, we investigated to what extent movement units reflect the oscillatory mechanics of the arm. At the ages of 16 and 20 weeks, the age range in which infants just begin to reach, a toy rattle was presented in three conditions, with varying external forces acting on the arm: sitting, sitting with masses on the forearms, and supine.The tangential velocity profile of the wrist during successful reaching attempts was decomposed to a gravity-dependent (φ_v), and a gravity-independent component (φ_h), and movement units were determined in the total velocity profile and in its components. Significant effects of experimental condition, but not age, were found for movement time, number of movement units and duration ofphi;_hcomponent units. It was shown that these effects can be accounted for by a simple mechanical model, in which the arm is approximated as a harmonic oscillator governed by, gravity, the moment of inertia of the arm, and the stiffness of the shoulder joint. Stiffness values, derived from fitting the model to the data, were in the order of 1 Nm/rad.From these results we conclude that movement units in an infant's initial attempts at reaching are to a large extent a reflection of the mechanical context.     

On the development of communicative understandings: An early strategy for interpreting and responding to messages

Young children's apparently sophisticated understanding of language is explained by a simple heuristic which produces responses fortuitously appropriate to many of the messages directed to them. Specifically, the strategy recruits action responses to language unless some element, either linguistic or nonlinguistic, indicates otherwise. Two experiments tested for the existence of the heuristic by examining the responses of children, 19–34 months of age, to sentences susceptible of more than one interpretation. In the first experiment such sentences were spoken in as neutral a context as possible. In the second, the same sorts of sentences were presented in contexts supporting either action or informing responses. The results of both experiments indicate that young children interpret and respond to language in terms of an action-based strategy. Moreover, the observed effects of context show that even young children engage in a continuous, context-sensitive process of interpretation. The data are discussed with regard to speech act theory and its role in a developmental theory of understanding.     

Memories of Morocco: The influence of age,schooling, and environment on memory

To what extent are models of memory general, in that they may be applied to children or to other cultural groups? In an attempt to answer this question, two experiments were undertaken in Morocco to investigate various cultural and experiential antecedents to memory development. A total of 384 children and young adults, ranging in age from 6 to 22 years, were tested in a design that contrasted schooled and nonschooled children in urban and rural environments. Three additional groups of subjects—Koranic students, Moroccan rug sellers, and University of Michigan students—were also studied because it was hypothesized that each might have particular “culture-specific” memory skills as a function of previous experience.A serial short-term recall task was used in Experiment I. Results showed that the recency effect or short-term store was generally invariant with age or experience. Control processes appeared to be a function of age, but only when coupled with schooling, and, to a lesser extent, urban environment. In Experiment II, a continuous recognition memory task was given with black and white photographs of Oriental rugs as stimuli. Forgetting rates were generally invariant with age and experience, while the acquisition parameter seemed to vary as a function of specific cultural experiences. Data from the three additional groups were useful in supporting the hypothesis of culture-specific memory skills.From Experiments I and II, and previous research, it was hypothesized that structural features of memory (e.g., short-term store and invariant forgetting rates) may be universal, while control processes or mnemonics in memory are probably culture-specific, or a function of a variety of experiential and cultural factors that surround the growing child.     

The Rorschach and structured tests of perception as indices of intellectual development in mentally retarded and nonretarded children

In a study of the developmental significance of certain perceptual activities, the Rorschach and four structured tests of perception were administered to five groups of children at various CA, MA, and IQ levels. All three Rorschach measures were significantly related to MA, as were all four of the structured tests. The Childrens' Embedded Figures Test was the best predictor of MA; it accounted for 52% of the variance, while the six remaining measures yielded nonsignificant increments to a multiple regression equation. In a factor analysis the four structured tests loaded on one factor (51% of total variance), while the three Rorschach variables loaded on a second (17%); MA loaded on both (.669 and .447, respectively). In an additional finding, Zigler's “developmental” hypothesis that level of development and not IQ determines cognitive competence, received partial support from 13 of 14 statistical tests.     

Personality characteristics,parent behaviors,and sex of subject in relation to cheating

College students were given the opportunity to falsify self-reported scores on a task to gain course credit. Personality and perceived parent behavior data were obtained in a counterbalanced design. Male cheaters were significantly higher in Aggression, Exhibition, Social Recognition, and Harmavoidance but lower in Autonomy (PRF scales) and ACT scores. Female transgressors were reliably lower in harmavoidance and higher in Impulsivity than noncheaters. Among males, no parent scales differentiated transgressors and resisters. Among females, parent scales reflecting reports of lower father warmth and fewer maternal equalitarian interactions but higher Hostile Control significantly differentiated cheaters from noncheaters. These findings were discussed, particularly in terms of the sex differences which suggest that males and females may cheat for different reasons.     

Intraindividual differences dimensions of mood change during pregnancy identified in five P-technique factor analyses

Daily-self-ratings of mood and state were obtained for approximately 120 days of observation from five pregnant subjects. Measurements were based on a total pool of 75 adjectives culled from the literature to represent eight dimensions of affect established in primarily cross-sectional studies. The data were analyzed in a P-technique factor analysis context to determine both the extent to which interindividual differences and intraindividual variability concepts were interchangeable and how general such intraindividual variability concepts were among different subjects. Although evidence was found that subjects construe many adjectives differently, for dimensions such as Energy, Well Being, Fatigue, and Concentration, the data indicate that cross-sectionally and longitudinally based personality concepts exhibit a fair degree of convergence.     

Equality of Education and Citizenship: Challenges of European Integration

What kind of equality among Europeans does equal citizenship require, especially regarding education? In particular, is there good reason to insist of equality of education among Europeans—and if so, equality of what? To what extent should the same knowledge base and citizenship norms be taught across state borders and religious and other normative divides? At least three philosophical issues merit attention: (a) The requirements of multiple democratic citizenships beyond the nation state; (b) how to respect diversity while securing such equality and inculcating commitments to justice and norms of citizenship, and (c) The multiple reasons for equality of various kinds among political equals living in a Union as compared to a unitary state. The article responds on the basis of several arguments in favour of certain kinds of equality. All Union citizens must enjoy a high minimum level of education, and all pupils must be informed concerning the various ways of life prevalent in Europe. Furthermore, there must be standards for securing equality of opportunity across the EU, though it is difficult to measure under multiculturalism. Citizens must also be socialised to certain ‘citizenship norms’. This shared basis to be taught in schools should avoid contested religious or philosophical premises as far as possible. Yet the school system should socialise pupils to three commitments: to the just domestic and European institutions and hence the legislation they engender, to principles that justify these institutions; and to a political theory that grounds these principles in a conception of the proper role of individuals, of member states and of the Union. I also argue that equality of result is not a plausible normative requirement among Europeans, while equality of opportunity is. The paper concludes with some comments on the lessons to be drawn for ‘Global’ citizenship.