The role of pupil size in communication. Is there room for learning?

The eyes are extremely important for communication. The muscles around the eyes express emotional states and the size of the pupil signals whether a person is aroused and alert or bored and fatigued. Pupil size is an overlooked social signal, yet is readily picked up by observers. Observers mirror their own pupil sizes in response, which can influence social impressions. In a landmark study by Hess [1975. The role of pupil size in communication. Scientific American, 233(5), 110–119] it was shown that individuals with large pupils are perceived more positively than individuals with small pupils. In that behavioral study, participants were asked to draw pupils in line drawings of faces with empty irises and they drew large pupils in the happy face, and small ones in the angry face. The current study tested 579 participants (aged 4–80 years old) and extended this work by showing that this association between large (small) pupils and a positive (negative) impression develops over age and is absent in children. Several explanations for how individuals through interactions with close others learn that large pupils mean care, interest and attention and small pupils the opposite, are discussed. To conclude, this study shows that pupil size and emotion perception are intertwined but that their relationship develops over age.     

A COMPARISON OF THE EFFECTS OF BRIEF RULES, A TIMER, AND PREFERRED TOYS ON SELF-CONTROL

Some children make impulsive choices (i.e., choose a small but immediate reinforcer over a large but delayed reinforcer). Previous research has shown that delay fading, providing an alternative activity during the delay, teaching participants to repeat a rule during the delay, combining delay fading with an alternative activity, and combining delay fading with a countdown timer are effective for increasing self‐control (i.e., choosing the large but delayed reinforcer over the small but immediate reinforcer). The purpose of the current study was to compare the effects of various interventions in the absence of delay fading (i.e., providing brief rules, providing a countdown timer during the delay, or providing preferred toys during the delay) on self‐control. Results suggested that providing brief rules or a countdown timer during the delay was ineffective for enhancing self‐control. However, providing preferred toys during the delay effectively enhanced self‐control.     

An Experiment upon Repeated Reproduction

The author presented dwarf hamsters (Phodopus campbelli) and golden hamsters (Mesocricetus auratus) with conspecific and inanimate signals for food. Both species approached a cardboard stimulus that predicted food. The dwarf hamsters engaged in high levels of social contact directed toward a conspecific conditioned stimulus for food, but the golden hamsters did not. The author also presented dwarf hamsters with a conspecific signal that did not indicate food, and the levels of social behaviors that they directed toward it were significantly lower. These results suggest the presence of a social component in the dwarf hamster feeding system and are consistent with previous findings that the social transmission of food preferences occurs more readily in dwarf hamsters than in golden hamsters.     

A Test of the Overconfidence Phenomenon Using Audio Signals

The existence of the overconfidence phenomenon was examined using a signal detection paradigm. Fifty-five participants were asked to decide whether they heard a signal or noise only, and to rate how certain they were of their decisions. The results confirmed the existence of overconfidence as well as the “hard-easy” effect.     

不同认知方式与标记利用意向对文章标记效应的影响

本文探讨读者不同认知方式与标记利用意向对文章标记效应影响的实验。实验以初中二年级学生为被试。结果表明 ,文章标记利用的意向对场独立和场依存被试文章信息的保持都有显著的促进作用 ;文章宏观标记与读者的认知方式有显著的交互作用 ,在有文章宏观标记条件下 ,场独立被试与场依存被试之间无显著差异 ,在无宏观标记条件下 ,场独立被试显著优于场依存被试     

文章标记量影响文章标记效应的实验研究

探讨文章阅读过程中文章标记量的多少对文章中不同类型的信号保持的影响。结果表明 ,在有标记的目标句上 ,少标记条件显著优于多标记条件和无标记条件 ,多标记条件与无标记条件之间无显著差异 ;在无标记的目标句上 ,无标记条件显著优于多标记条件和少标记条件 ,多标记条件与少标记条件之间无显著差异。这一结果支持在文章阅读过程中读者是微略性地运用文章标记的假设和交易效应的假设。     

Supervisory countertransferences and impingements in evaluating readiness for graduation: Always present,routinely under‐recognized

Utilizing detailed, in‐depth material from supervisory hours from around the world (explored in End of Training Evaluation groups), this paper shows that supervisors are subject to multiple, diverse and, at times, ongoing intense countertransferences and impingements on their ability to evaluate candidates’ progress. Multiple external and internal sources of these impingements are explored. It is suggested that supervisory countertransferences and their manifestation in parallel enactments remain under‐recognized, their impact underappreciated, and the information they contain underutilized. It is argued that the recognition, containment, and effective use of the parallel process phenomena and supervisory countertransferences are essential in order to evaluate candidates’ progression and readiness to graduate. Common signals of such entanglements in the supervisor's evaluative function are identified. Three remedies, each of which provides a ‘third,’ are offered to assist supervisors in making effective use of their countertransference: self‐supervision, consultation, and institutional correctives.     

THE EVOLUTIONARY BASIS OF RELIGIOUS ETHICS

Abstract. I propose that religious ethical traditions can be understood as cultural expressions of underlying evolutionary processes. I begin with a discussion of evolutionary theories of morality, specifically kin selection and reciprocal altruism, and then discuss some recent work on the evolution of religion, setting out those features of religion that prepare it to take on a moral function in society. Having established the theoretical framework for the thesis, I turn to a close reading of early Jewish and Christian ethical teachings, as found in the Bible, in order to set out preliminary support for the proposal. My goal is to argue for the plausibility of the thesis and to indicate how, if correct, it provides new insight into Judeo‐Christian moral traditions and into the phenomenon of religious violence. Such an approach to religious ethics has important metaethical implications. In the last section I consider issues such as the foundation of ethics and the possibilities and limitations of a secular ethics.     

The effects of signaling stimulus presentation during noncontingent reinforcement

The effects of signaling the return of items or attention during treatment with noncontingent reinforcement were examined. First, functional analyses showed that the problem behavior exhibited by 2 teenagers with developmental disabilities was sensitive to social positive reinforcement. Next, delivery of the stimulus that maintained problem behavior on a fixed-time (FT) schedule was compared to a condition in which the removal of the stimulus during the same FT schedule was immediately preceded by a statement indicating that the stimulus would be returned and the initiation of a digital timer. Results show that the FT schedule reduced problem behavior, and the addition of an informative statement and a timer further decreased problem behavior.