Cued and uncued terminal links in concurrent-chains schedules

Pigeons were trained on a concurrent-chains schedule. The initial links were concurrent variable-interval schedules arranged on two side keys. Each terminal link was a fixed-interval schedule arranged on the center key. In cued conditions, different center-key colors signaled the two terminal-link schedules. In uncued conditions, the same center-key color appeared for both terminal links. Experiment 1 arranged unequal initial links and equal terminal links. Preference for the shorter initial-link schedule was greater when the terminal links were uncued. Experiment 2 arranged equal initial links and unequal terminal links. Preference for the shorter terminal-link schedule was greater when the terminal links were cued. Although the results of Experiment 2 successfully replicated previous research, the results of Experiment 1 are not easily reconciled with conditioned-reinforcement or discriminative-stimulus accounts of the role of terminal-link cues. Rather, terminal-link cues appear to decrease sensitivity to initial-link contingencies.     

Comparing music- and food-evoked autobiographical memories in young and older adults: A diary study

Previous research has found that music brings back more vivid and emotional autobiographical memories than various other retrieval cues. However, such studies have often been low in ecological validity and constrained by relatively limited cue selection and predominantly young adult samples. Here, we compared music to food as cues for autobiographical memories in everyday life in young and older adults. In two separate four-day periods, 39 younger (ages 18–34) and 39 older (ages 60–77) adults recorded their music- and food-evoked autobiographical memories in paper diaries. Across both age groups, music triggered more frequent autobiographical memories, a greater proportion of involuntary memories, and memories rated as more personally important in comparison to food cues. Age differences impacted music- and food-evoked memories similarly, with older adults consistently recalling older and less specific memories, which they rated as more positive, vivid, and rehearsed. However, young and older adults did not differ in the number or involuntary nature of their recorded memories. This work represents an important step in understanding the phenomenology of naturally occurring music-evoked autobiographical memories across adulthood and provides new insights into how and why music may be a more effective trigger for personally valued memories than certain other everyday cues.     

童年压力及死亡威胁启动对择偶要求的影响

本实验从生命史理论出发, 研究童年期环境压力如何与当前环境中的压力线索相互作用并影响个体对异性的择偶要求。被试为70名大学本科生, 其中一部分被试被分配到死亡威胁启动组, 他们阅读一篇描述近期国内暴力犯罪及死亡率上升的新闻报道, 另一部分被试被分配到控制组, 他们阅读一篇描述一个人花了很长时间寻找遗失钱包的文章。被试自我报告对异性的理想择偶要求及其童年压力。控制了性别及恋爱状态后, 多元回归分析表明：童年压力与启动条件仅在身体吸引力的理想标准上有显著交互作用。其中, 低童年压力组在死亡威胁启动下对异性身体吸引力的理想标准显著高于控制条件, 而高童年压力组在死亡威胁启动下对异性身体吸引力的理想要求则显著低于控制条件。此外, 启动条件在异性做“好父母”的择偶标准上有显著主效应, 死亡威胁启动下的被试对异性做好父母的择偶标准高于控制组被试。而在对资源的择偶标准上既不存在童年压力和死亡威胁启动的主效应, 也不存在交互作用。研究说明童年压力与当前环境压力会影响个体对异性的择偶要求, 但对不同择偶要求的影响作用不同。     

知觉线索对元记忆监控的影响

近年来, 越来越多的证据表明知觉线索影响个体的高级认知--元记忆。元记忆指个体对自己学习和记忆活动的认知, 其核心成分是监测和控制。研究发现, 多种知觉线索(如字体大小、音量、文本清晰度、重量、亮度等)影响个体的元记忆监测(如学习判断和自信心评定)及控制(如学习时间分配)。这种影响可能是加工流畅性所致, 也可能基于人们的信念产生。未来研究有必要进一步探究知觉线索影响元记忆监控的条件, 并厘清加工流畅性和信念的具体作用。     

Adaptations to Ovulation

ABSTRACT— In socially monogamous species in which males heavily invest in offspring, there arises an inevitable genetic conflict between partners over whether investing males become biological fathers of their partners' offspring. Humans are such a species. The ovulatory-shift hypothesis proposes that changes in women's mate preferences and sexual interests across the cycle are footprints of this conflict. When fertile (mid-cycle), women find masculine bodily and behavioral features particularly sexy and report increased attraction to men other than current partners. Men are more vigilant of partners when the latter are fertile, which may reflect evolved counteradaptations. This adaptationist hypothesis has already generated several fruitful research programs, but many questions remain.     

Multiple Framing: Verbal,Facial, and Vocal Cues in Risky Choice

Verbal framing effects have been widely studied, but little is known about how people react to multiple framing cues in risk communication, where verbal messages are often accompanied by facial and vocal cues. We examined joint and differential effects of verbal, facial, and vocal framing on risk preference in hypothetical monetary and life–death situations. In the multiple framing condition with the factorial design (2 verbal frames × 2 vocal tones × 4 basic facial expressions × 2 task domains), each scenario was presented auditorily with a written message on a photo of the messenger's face. Compared with verbal framing effects resulting in preference reversal, multiple frames made risky choice more consistent and shifted risk preference without reversal. Moreover, a positive tone of voice increased risk‐seeking preference in women. When the valence of facial and vocal cues was incongruent with verbal frame, verbal framing effects were significant. In contrast, when the affect cues were congruent with verbal frame, framing effects disappeared. These results suggest that verbal framing is given higher priority when other affect cues are incongruent. Further analysis revealed that participants were more risk‐averse when positive affect cues (positive tone or facial expressions) were congruently paired with a positive verbal frame whereas participants were more risk‐seeking when positive affect cues were incongruent with the verbal frame. In contrast, for negative affect cues, congruency promoted risk‐seeking tendency whereas incongruency increased risk‐aversion. Overall, the results show that facial and vocal cues interact with verbal framing and significantly affect risk communication. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Police officers' beliefs about,and use of,cues to deception

Meta‐analytic findings indicate that people, including police officers, are generally poor at detecting low‐stakes deception. Related to this, investigations of behaviours that people reportedly use to make truth or lie judgements tend to conclude that people rely on incorrect stereotypes. However, consistent findings suggest that police officers are able to detect high‐stakes deception; this implies that, at least in some contexts, police officers utilise reliable cues to deception. The research presented here was an investigation of cues to deception used by police officers (N  = 69), when making veracity decisions about real world, high‐stakes communications. Data were collected on both free report cues, and also prescribed cues that were known (from previous research), to discriminate between liars and truth‐tellers in the communications that the police officers observed. Officers free reported using cues related to verbal content, emotion, body language, eyes, vocal cues, and external cues. Most prescribed cues were self‐reportedly used correctly by large majorities of the officers, suggesting that they may not rely on inaccurate stereotypes. Self‐report use of categories of free report cues, and prescribed cues, was not related to accuracy in detecting deception. As people may not always be aware of the behaviours on which their judgements are based, the relationships between some of the behaviours actually displayed in the communications, and group accuracy in detecting deception in those communications, were also investigated. Group accuracy was related to the presence of subjective, emotion‐related cues in the communications.     

任务类线索对学习难易度判断及其准确性影响的实验研究

摘要：通过两个实验考察任务类线索（词频、关联性、学习次数）对学习难易度判断及其准确性的影响。结果表明：（1）词频和关联性对学习难易度判断均有显著影响,高频词对、有关联词对的预测成绩显著高于低频词对和无关联词对的预测成绩;（2）高频词对和低频词对的预测成绩均出现高估,但低频词对的估计更准确;有无关联词对相比,无关联词对预测成绩偏差更大,有关联词对的难易度判断更准确;（3）词频高低只影响成绩的预测,不影响实际回忆成绩;关联性既影响对成绩的预测,也影响实际回忆成绩。（4）学习次数对难易度判断没有显著影响,但随学习次数增加,判断准确性降低,出现低估现象。结论：材料因素对学习难易度判断等级具有较稳定的影响;不同材料因素（词频、关联性）对难易度判断准确性的影响方式不同;学习次数对学习难易度判断没有显著影响;学习难易度判断中存在练习伴随低估效应。     

Local rather than global processing of visual arrays in numerosity discrimination by pigeons (Columba livia)

A series of experiments investigated which stimulus properties pigeons use when they discriminate pairs of visual arrays that differ in numerosity. Transfer tests with novel stimuli confirmed that the birds’ choices were based on relative differences in numerosity. However, pigeons differed from other species in the non-numerical cues that affected their choices. In human and non-human primates, numerical discrimination is often influenced by continuous variables such as surface area or overall stimulus brightness. Pigeons showed little evidence of using those cues, even when summed area and brightness had been correlated with numerosity differences and reward outcome. But when array-element sizes were asymmetrically distributed across numerosities, the birds readily utilized information about item sizes as an additional discriminative cue. These novel results are discussed in relation to pigeons’ tendency to focus on local, rather than global dimensions when they process other non-numerical complex visual stimuli. The findings suggest there may be inter-specific differences in the type of perceptual information that provides the input stage for mechanisms underlying numerical processing. Electronic supplementary material  The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

Learning, memorizing and apparent forgetting of chemical cues from new predators by Iberian green frog tadpoles

Many antipredator adaptations are induced by the prey’s ability to recognize chemical cues from predators. However, predator recognition often requires learning by prey individuals. Iberian green frog tadpoles (Pelophylax perezi) have the ability to learn new potential predators. Here, we tested the memory capabilities of Iberian green frog tadpoles. We conditioned tadpoles with chemicals cues from a non-predatory fish in conjunction with conspecific alarm cues, and examined whether tadpoles retained their conditioned response (reduction of activity level). We found that conditioned tadpoles reduced their activity levels in subsequent exposures to the non-predatory fish cues alone. Tadpoles were able to remember this association and reduced movement rate at least for 9 days after. The ability to learn and memorize potential predators may be especially important for the survivorship of prey species that are likely to find a high variety of predators. However, after those 9 days, there was a lack of response to the non-predatory fish cues alone in the absence of reinforcement. This could be explained if tadpoles behave according to the threat-sensitive predator avoidance hypothesis, and the perceived risk to the learning cue diminished over time, or it could be due to an apparent forgetting process to avoid non-adaptative responses to chemical cues of non-dangerous species that were randomly paired with alarm cues. Thus, this study demonstrates that green frog tadpoles in the absence of reinforcement remember the chemical cues of a learned predator only for a limited time that may be adaptative in a threat-sensitive context.