Units of analysis and kinetic structure of behavioral repertoires

It is suggested that molar streams of behavior are constructed of various arrangements of three elementary constituents (elicited, evoked, and emitted response classes). An eight-cell taxonomy is elaborated as a framework for analyzing and synthesizing complex behavioral repertoires based on these functional units. It is proposed that the local force binding functional units into a smoothly articulated kinetic sequence arises from temporally arranged relative response probability relationships. Behavioral integration is thought to reflect the joint influence of the organism's hierarchy of relative response probabilities, fluctuating biological states, and the arrangement of environmental and behavioral events in time.     

The relative law of effect: effects of shock intensity on response strength in multiple schedules

Key pecking of four birds was reinforced with food according to a two-component multiple variable-interval 1-minute variable-interval 4-minute schedule. In addition, key pecking was punished by a brief shock according to a variable-interval 30-second schedule during both components of the multiple schedule. The intensity of the shock was varied. For all birds, punishment had a stronger suppressive effect on the responding maintained by the leaner food schedule, and the ratio of responding during the two components of the multiple schedule became closer to the ratio of reinforcement as shock intensity was increased, as the relative law of effect predicts. At the higher shock intensity, there was some evidence that the ratio of responses overmatched the ratio of reinforcements.     

Behavioral contrast as a function of the temporal location of reinforcement

Pigeons were trained on a multiple variable-interval variable-interval schedule of reinforcement. One component was then changed to a variation of a fixed-interval schedule in which the same rate of reinforcement was obtained as previously but the location of the reinforcer was fixed within the component. The effects of different temporal locations were compared. An increase in response rate for the unchanged variable-interval component (behavioral contrast) occurred when the reinforcer was located in the middle or at the end of the FI component, but response suppression occurred when it was located at the beginning of the component. The pattern of results cannot be explained by any previous theories of contrast. The overall response rates, and the pattern of local rates within the components, were consistent with the hypothesis that the major determinant of the contrast effect was the transition to a lower reinforcement rate following the unchanged component.     

Human and machine perception of biological motion

More than 30 years ago, Johansson was the first to show that humans are capable of recovering information about the identity and activity of animate creatures rapidly and reliably from very sparse visual inputs – the phenomenon of biological motion. He filmed human actors in a dark setting with just a few strategic points on the body marked by lights – so-called moving light displays (MLDs). Subjects viewing the MLDs reported a vivid impression of moving human forms, and were even able to tell the activity in which the perceived humans were engaged. Subsequently, the phenomenon has been widely studied and many attempts have been made to model and to understand it. Typical questions that arise are: How precisely is the sparse low-level information integrated over space and time to produce the global percept, and how important is world knowledge (e.g., about animal form, locomotion, gravity, etc.)? In an attempt to answer such questions, we have implemented a machine-perception model of biological motion. If the computational model can replicate human data then it might offer clues as to how humans achieve the task. In particular, if it can do so with no or minimal world knowledge then this knowledge cannot be essential to the perception of biological motion. To provide human data for training and against which to assess the model, an extensive psychophysical experiment was undertaken in which 93 subjects were shown 12 categories of MLDs (e.g., normal, walking backwards, inverted, random dots, etc.) and were asked to indicate the presence or absence of natural human motion. Machine perception models were then trained on normal sequences as positive data and random sequences as negative data. Two models were used: a k-nearest neighbour (k-NN) classifier as an exemplar of ‘lazy’ learning and a back-propagation neural network as an exemplar of ‘eager’ learning. We find that the k-NN classifier is better able to model the human data but it still fails to represent aspects of knowledge about body shape (especially how relative joint positions change under rotation) that appear to be important to human judgements.     

城镇化进程中离乡农民心理健康特点调查及心理素质、相对剥夺感的影响机制

为探讨城镇化进程中离乡农民的心理健康特点以及心理素质、相对剥夺感对其的影响,通过量表对1339名城乡居民进行调查。结果发现:离乡与留乡农民在幸福感、拥有生命意义感、感知控制感、心理素质方面显著低于城镇居民,在状态焦虑方面显著高于城镇居民; 离乡农民在抑郁上显著高于城镇居民,在感知控制感上显著高于留乡农民,在心理素质上显著低于留乡农民; 留乡农民在相对剥夺感上显著高于城镇居民; 离乡农民的幸福感、拥有生命意义感、感知控制感态与相对剥夺感呈显著负相关,与心理素质呈显著正相关; 离乡农民的抑郁、状态焦虑与相对剥夺感呈显著正相关,与心理素质呈显著负相关; 离乡农民的相对剥夺感与心理素质之间呈显著负相关。心理素质除了可以直接预测心理健康各项指标,还可以通过相对剥夺感的中介作用,间接预测幸福感、抑郁及状态焦虑。提升心理素质和降低相对剥夺感是离乡农民心理健康服务的重要切入点。     

Relative deprivation: A mechanism for the ostracism–aggression link

In five studies, we tested whether ostracism triggers feelings of relative deprivation and whether relative deprivation accounts for the impact of ostracism on aggression. Relative to participants who recalled either inclusive or neutral experiences, participants who recalled ostracism experiences reported higher levels of relative deprivation (Study 1). Furthermore, the feeling of relative deprivation mediated the effect of ostracism on aggression (Studies 2, 3a, and 3b). Framing ostracism as an experience of nondeprivation weakened the connection between ostracism and aggression (Study 4), which suggests an effective way of reducing aggression following an ostracism experience. Together, these findings highlight the significance of relative deprivation in shaping people's responses toward ostracism.     

“They've Put Nothing in the Pot!”: Brexit and the Key Psychological Motivations Behind Voting 'Remain' and 'Leave'

In June 2016, the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union. Voting followed a general trend: disadvantaged areas of the United Kingdom tended to vote “leave,” and more affluent areas tended to vote “remain.” This project investigates the psychological variables underlying this overall trend by distinguishing four psychological motivations: the need for justice, threat reduction needs, need to belong, and the need for control. Participants were recruited from different areas across Greater Manchester (N = 158). A survey assessed voting preference, socioeconomic status, collective relative deprivation (CRD), perceptions of threat from immigration, European and British identification, sense of control in life, and relative gratification. Discriminant function analysis showed that leave voting was characterized by greater realistic threat, symbolic threat, CRD, and British identification. Remain voting was characterized by strong European identification. Findings highlight that a need for justice, threat-reduction needs, and identity needs were key predictors of voting behavior.