Measuring Deception: A Look at Antecedents to Deceptive Intent. Randall J. Boyle, Jeffrey A. Clements and Jeffrey Gainer Proudfoot. The American Journal of Psychology, Vol. 131, No. 3 (Fall 2018), pp. 347-367. https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5406/amerjpsyc.131.3.0347
Abstract: A Deceptive Belief Inventory scale is developed and validated using 10 first-order factors to represent 3 second-order constructs (deception confidence, duping delight, and guiltless deception). A new theoretical model describing how deception confidence, duping delight, and guiltless deception may influence a person's intent to deceive others is also tested. Traditional deceptive communication research has focused on situation-specific factors surrounding deception. This study focuses on understanding and assessing a person's propensity to deceive others. The findings of this study can be used to better understand the factors that may influence a person's reported propensity to deceive and ultimately be used to improve security procedures designed to protect critical information systems.
Tuesday, August 14, 2018
We find that at least 31.2% of the citations to retracted articles happen a year after the article has been retracted, that 91.4% of these post-retraction citations are approving, & that problematic research continues to be approvingly cited long after the problems have been publicized
Propagation of Error: Approving Citations to Problematic Research. Ken Cor and Gaurav Sood. https://github.com/recite/propagation_of_error
Abstract: Reports of serious errors in published research are increasingly common. Once the issues have been made public, we expect approving citations to the problematic articles—citations noting no concerns with the cited article—to stop. Using a novel database of over 3,000 retracted articles and nearly 74,000 citations to the retracted articles as well as data from a prominent article that highlights a statistical error in a set of articles published in prominent journals, we estimate citation rates and rates of approving citations pre- and postnotification. We find that at least 31.2% of the citations to retracted articles happen a year after the article has been retracted. And that 91.4% of these post-retraction citations are approving. We also find that problematic research continues to be approvingly cited long after the problems have been publicized. Our results have implications for the design of scholarship discovery systems and scientific practice more generally.
Abstract: Reports of serious errors in published research are increasingly common. Once the issues have been made public, we expect approving citations to the problematic articles—citations noting no concerns with the cited article—to stop. Using a novel database of over 3,000 retracted articles and nearly 74,000 citations to the retracted articles as well as data from a prominent article that highlights a statistical error in a set of articles published in prominent journals, we estimate citation rates and rates of approving citations pre- and postnotification. We find that at least 31.2% of the citations to retracted articles happen a year after the article has been retracted. And that 91.4% of these post-retraction citations are approving. We also find that problematic research continues to be approvingly cited long after the problems have been publicized. Our results have implications for the design of scholarship discovery systems and scientific practice more generally.
People often have food leftovers, which may impact their eating behavior; given equal actual consumption, larger (vs. smaller) food leftovers made people feel they ate less; as a result, larger (vs. smaller) food leftovers led people to eat more and exercise less later
Out of proportion? The role of leftovers in eating-related affect and behavior. Aradhna Krishna, Linda Hagen. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2018.08.005
Highlights
• People often have food leftovers, which may impact their eating behavior.
• Given equal actual consumption, larger (vs. smaller) food leftovers made people feel they ate less.
• As a result, larger (vs. smaller) food leftovers led people to eat more and exercise less later.
• These findings have implications for the success of “Just Eat Half” interventions.
• The findings also underscore the importance of portion-size oriented policy interventions.
Abstract: It is well known that growing portion sizes increase consumption, but grossly enlarged portions also cause consumers to face more and more food leftovers. Despite the relevance of food leftovers, downstream effects of having more food leftovers on consumers' affect and behavior are unknown. In five studies, the authors test the idea that consumers may judge their actual consumption by looking at their leftovers. As such, larger leftovers may reduce perceived consumption and also impact other eating-related behaviors. Using both real and imagined food consumption and leftovers, the authors find that, holding the absolute amount of food consumption equal, larger (vs. smaller) food leftovers lead to reduced perceived consumption. This difference in perceived consumption has consequences for people's motivation to compensate for their eating. Larger (vs. smaller) food leftovers cause them to eat more in a subsequent unrelated food consumption task, and also to exercise less in an explicit calorie compensation task. The psychological drivers of this phenomenon are twofold: larger leftovers reduce perceived consumption, which leads people to feel better about themselves; and feeling better about themselves, in turn, reduces people's motivation to compensate. This research reveals a previously unknown negative consequence of grossly enlarged portion sizes and informs research on perceived consumption.
Highlights
• People often have food leftovers, which may impact their eating behavior.
• Given equal actual consumption, larger (vs. smaller) food leftovers made people feel they ate less.
• As a result, larger (vs. smaller) food leftovers led people to eat more and exercise less later.
• These findings have implications for the success of “Just Eat Half” interventions.
• The findings also underscore the importance of portion-size oriented policy interventions.
Abstract: It is well known that growing portion sizes increase consumption, but grossly enlarged portions also cause consumers to face more and more food leftovers. Despite the relevance of food leftovers, downstream effects of having more food leftovers on consumers' affect and behavior are unknown. In five studies, the authors test the idea that consumers may judge their actual consumption by looking at their leftovers. As such, larger leftovers may reduce perceived consumption and also impact other eating-related behaviors. Using both real and imagined food consumption and leftovers, the authors find that, holding the absolute amount of food consumption equal, larger (vs. smaller) food leftovers lead to reduced perceived consumption. This difference in perceived consumption has consequences for people's motivation to compensate for their eating. Larger (vs. smaller) food leftovers cause them to eat more in a subsequent unrelated food consumption task, and also to exercise less in an explicit calorie compensation task. The psychological drivers of this phenomenon are twofold: larger leftovers reduce perceived consumption, which leads people to feel better about themselves; and feeling better about themselves, in turn, reduces people's motivation to compensate. This research reveals a previously unknown negative consequence of grossly enlarged portion sizes and informs research on perceived consumption.
An experimental investigation into pornography’s effect on men’s perceptions of the likelihood of women engaging in porn-like sex
An experimental investigation into pornography’s effect on men’s perceptions of the likelihood of women engaging in porn-like sex. Dan Miller, Kerry Anne McBain, Peter Raggatt. Psychology of Popular Media Culture, Aug 13 , 2018. http://psycnet.apa.org/buy/2018-38814-001
Abstract: This experimental study investigates whether exposure to pornography affects men’s perceptions of the likelihood of women engaging in, and enjoying, “porn-like” sex. Participants (N = 418) were either exposed to nonpornographic control videos or pornographic videos in which a male taxi driver has sex with a female passenger. Participants’ perceptions of the likelihood of women engaging in various sexual practices commonly depicted in pornography (e.g., unprotected sex with a stranger and rough sex) were then assessed across 2 vignettes. In the first vignette, a male taxi driver propositions a female passenger. In the second, a male boss propositions a female employee. The study was administered online to maximize ecological validity. No effect was found for experimental exposure. However, an effect was detected for past exposure. Men who had viewed taxi-themed pornography in the past 6 months rated the female taxi vignette character as being more likely to engage in porn-like sex with a male taxi driver. Similarly, those who had viewed workplace-themed pornography in the past 6 months judged the female workplace vignette character as being more likely to engage in porn-like sex with a male boss. The implications of these findings for theoretical models of sexual media socialization are discussed.
---
Introduction
Due to the proliferation of the Internet, pornography is now more easily accessible than ever before. Given this accessibility, it is perhaps not surprising that survey research consistently finds pornography consumption to be commonplace, especially among young men. A meta-analysis of four large-scale, nationally-representative surveys estimates that 46% of US men and 16% of US women aged between 18 and 39 are weekly pornography viewers (Regnerus, Gordon, & Price, 2015), although several smaller surveys have reported higher weekly viewing figures, especially among men (Kvalem, Træen, Lewin, & Štulhofer 2014; Nelson et al., 2014; Miller, Hald, & Kidd, 2017; Morgan, 2011; Rosser et al., 2013; Sun, Miezan, Lee, & Shim, 2015; Træen & Daneback, 2013). Additionally, multiple studies report that more than 90% of men have viewed pornography at some point (Kvalem et al., 2014; Nelson et al., 2014; Miller, et al., 2017; Morgan, 2011; Mulya & Hald, 2014; Rosser et al., 2013; Sun, Miezan, Lee, & Shim, 2015; Træen & Daneback, 2013).
The high prevalence of pornography consumption raises questions about the potential socializing effects of pornography use. A great deal of research has been generated in response to this. One particularly fruitful theory to be applied to the area of sexual media socialization is sexual script theory (Gagnon & Simon, 2005, see also Weiderman, 2015). Simply put, sexual script theory posits that human sexual behaviour is guided by scripts: “the mental representations individuals construct and then use to make sense of their experience, including their own and others’ behavior” (Weiderman, 2015, p. 7). Wright (2011) builds on sexual script theory with his acquisition, activation, and application model of media sexual socialization (3AM; see also Wright & Bae, 2016; Wright & Tokunaga, 2015). The 3AM argues that pornography plays an important role in creating new scripts (acquisition), priming existing scripts (activation), and encouraging the utilization of scripts to inform attitudes and behaviors (application). Accordingly, pornography may influence what is thought of as normative, impacting perceptions of sexuality, sexual situations, sexual behaviours, and evaluations of sexual relations (Hald, Seaman, & Linz, 2014).
There is research indicating that pornography use affects consumers’ attitudes and behaviors in ways that are consistent with sexual script theory. For example, content-analytic studies suggest that mainstream pornography rarely depicts condom use (Gorman, Monk Turner, & Fish, 2010; Vannier, Currie, & O’Sullivan, 2014). To put this in the language of sexual script theory, much pornography contains scripts presenting condomless sex as normative. Wright, Tokunaga, and Kraus (2016) found that university students who frequently consumed pornography judged their peers to be less likely to use condoms (script acquisition and activation) and were themselves more likely to engage in condomless sex (script application). Similarly, pornography use has been found to be associated with a desire to engage in the kinds of sexual practices depicted in pornography (Morgan, 2011), permissiveness towards casual sex (Brown & L’Engle, 2009; Peter & Valkenburg, 2010), and more positive attitudes toward extramarital sex (Wright, Tokunaga, & Bae, 2014). One meta analysis of correlation studies found that pornography use is associated with attitudes supporting violence against women, with a stronger effect for violent pornography (which presumably would be more likely to contain scripts suggesting that violence against women is normative), compared to non-violent pornography (Hald, Malamuth, & Yuen, 2010).
Although these results are consistent with sexual script theory, alternative explanations cannot be ruled out due to the cross-sectional nature of many of these studies. For example, the selective exposure hypothesis (see Wright et al., 2016; Wright & Bae, 2016) would suggest that consumers seek out pornography which reflects their existing attitudes and behavioral tendencies, rather than pornographic scripts shaping these attitudes and behaviors (e.g., those who hold attitudes supporting violence against women may be more likely to seek out violent pornography). It is due to this problem of determining direction of causation that multiple authors (Hald, Seaman, & Linz, 2014; Wright & Bae, 2016) have called for more longitudinal and experimental studies into the effects of pornography.
While it is true that the pornography research literature relies heavily on cross-sectional evidence, some experimental studies are available to draw on. Allen, D’Alessio, and Brezgel (1995) meta-analyzed 33 experiments into the effect of pornography on aggression published between 1971 and 1984. Their analysis found experimental exposure to pornography to increase aggressive behavior. This effect was larger for violent pornography. However, the authors also found that this effect was moderated by experimental manipulation of anger. In the meta-analysis experimental exposure to pornography increased aggressive behaviour, but only among participants who were also provoked by a confederate. More recently, Wright and Tokunaga (2015) exposed male university students to explicit centerfolds. They found that the experimental exposure strengthened the sexual reductionism, masculinity validation, and nonrelational sexual beliefs of participants who did not regularly view such material. The centerfolds had no effect on the attitudes of participants who did regularly view such material (although the sexual reductionism, masculinity validation, and nonrelational sexual beliefs of this group were already high). Similarly, Hald and colleagues exposed male and female participants to 25 mins of non-violent pornographic videos (Hald & Malamuth, 2015; Hald, Malamuth, & Lange, 2013). They found experimental exposure to pornography increased attitudes supporting violence against women and hostile sexism among participants low in agreeableness (but not among those high in agreeableness). They also found experimental exposure to pornography to increase hostile sexism among female participants.
The early experiments meta-analyzed by Allen et al. (1995) have been criticized for
lacking ecological validity (Fisher & Barack, 1991; Fisher & Grenier, 1994)—both in terms
of the laboratory setting in which the studies were carried out and the frequent use of
experimental procedures that provided participants no option but to aggress (e.g., having
participants choose the strength of an electric shock to be delivered to a female confederate,
without giving participants the option of not shocking the confederate). While the more
recently-conducted experiments described above (Hald & Malamuth, 2015; Hald et al., 2013;
Wright & Tokunaga, 2015) differ from these early experiments in terms of the outcome
variables assessed, there are still issues surrounding their ecological validity. It has to be
acknowledged that viewing pornography in a laboratory setting is unusual and potentially
embarrassing for participants, and may affect the way participants respond on outcome
measures. Another issue that needs to be considered in regard to experimental investigations
into the effects of pornography is past exposure. As has been outlined above, the prevalence
of pornography consumption in the population is high (especially among men). As such, it is
questionable as to whether experimental exposure to 15–30 mins of pornographic content (the
typical level of experimental exposure) would be enough to create a meaningful difference
between the control and exposure groups in terms of the treatment (although it may be
enough to prime an existing script). We will refer to this as the past exposure problem.1
Conclusions and Implications
Whereas previous studies have tended to focus on pornography’s influence on consumers’ attitudes (e.g., sexism), the current study focused on pornography’s influence on judgements of frequency and probability, namely men’s judgements of the likelihood of women engaging in porn-like sex in situations similar to those depicted in particular genres of pornography (taxi- and workplace-themed pornography). The study provides some evidence that pornography can influence consumers’ judgements of social reality, by affecting consumers’ perceptions of the likelihood of women enthusiastically engaging in the kinds of sexual practices commonly depicted in pornography.
It could be argued that judgments about the likelihood of women having pornographic sex are less important than pornography’s effects on more general attitudes, such as sexism. However, we would suggest that pornography influencing such probability judgements may still have widespread societal implications, especially given the high prevalence of men’s pornography use. Furthermore, it is possible that perceptions around the likelihood of women engaging in, and enjoying, porn-like sex may themselves act to influence attitudes and behaviours more generally. For example, as is discussed above (see Introduction), Wright et al. (2016) found that pornography consumption is predictive of judging condom usage to be less common among one’s peers, which in turn, is associated with personally engaging in unprotected sex. In the same way, judging women to be more likely to engage in, and enjoy, porn-like sex may influence pornography users’ conceptions of sexual norms, such that users are more likely to believe porn-like sex to be the norm in both short- and long-term relationships. Conceivably this could flow-on to affect consumers’ attitudes (e.g., causing consumers to adopt more positive attitudes toward personally engaging in porn-like sex) and behaviors (e.g., causing consumers to imitate the sexual practices depicted in pornography with sexual partners, or even causing consumers to proposition strangers in the ways depicted in some pornography). In support of this notion, extant cross-sectional research suggests a positive association between pornography use and holding a preference for engaging in the kinds of sexual practices commonly depicted in pornography (Miller, McBain, Li, & Raggatt, 2018; Morgan, 2011). Shifts in pornography users’ conceptions of sexual norms could potentially foster sexual dissatisfaction within relationships. For example, pornography users may feel a sense of relative deprivation if their partners are unwilling to engage in, what they consider to be, “normal” sexual practices. Alternatively, pornography non-users may feel resentment if they are expected, or pressured, to engage in sexual practices which they have no interest in. Similarly, because pornography consumption reinforces the notion that porn-like sex is wildly pleasurable for all involved, pornography users may feel upset (or even sexually inadequate) if their partners do not find pornographic sex to be pleasurable. Alternatively, it could be argued that expanding societal conceptions around what is sexually normative might have positive repercussions, by reducing the stigma associated with sexual practices which have previously been stigmatized. Whether educating consumers on the non-representative nature of pornography would be enough to nullify the deleterious effects of pornography use is unclear.
Abstract: This experimental study investigates whether exposure to pornography affects men’s perceptions of the likelihood of women engaging in, and enjoying, “porn-like” sex. Participants (N = 418) were either exposed to nonpornographic control videos or pornographic videos in which a male taxi driver has sex with a female passenger. Participants’ perceptions of the likelihood of women engaging in various sexual practices commonly depicted in pornography (e.g., unprotected sex with a stranger and rough sex) were then assessed across 2 vignettes. In the first vignette, a male taxi driver propositions a female passenger. In the second, a male boss propositions a female employee. The study was administered online to maximize ecological validity. No effect was found for experimental exposure. However, an effect was detected for past exposure. Men who had viewed taxi-themed pornography in the past 6 months rated the female taxi vignette character as being more likely to engage in porn-like sex with a male taxi driver. Similarly, those who had viewed workplace-themed pornography in the past 6 months judged the female workplace vignette character as being more likely to engage in porn-like sex with a male boss. The implications of these findings for theoretical models of sexual media socialization are discussed.
---
Introduction
Due to the proliferation of the Internet, pornography is now more easily accessible than ever before. Given this accessibility, it is perhaps not surprising that survey research consistently finds pornography consumption to be commonplace, especially among young men. A meta-analysis of four large-scale, nationally-representative surveys estimates that 46% of US men and 16% of US women aged between 18 and 39 are weekly pornography viewers (Regnerus, Gordon, & Price, 2015), although several smaller surveys have reported higher weekly viewing figures, especially among men (Kvalem, Træen, Lewin, & Štulhofer 2014; Nelson et al., 2014; Miller, Hald, & Kidd, 2017; Morgan, 2011; Rosser et al., 2013; Sun, Miezan, Lee, & Shim, 2015; Træen & Daneback, 2013). Additionally, multiple studies report that more than 90% of men have viewed pornography at some point (Kvalem et al., 2014; Nelson et al., 2014; Miller, et al., 2017; Morgan, 2011; Mulya & Hald, 2014; Rosser et al., 2013; Sun, Miezan, Lee, & Shim, 2015; Træen & Daneback, 2013).
The high prevalence of pornography consumption raises questions about the potential socializing effects of pornography use. A great deal of research has been generated in response to this. One particularly fruitful theory to be applied to the area of sexual media socialization is sexual script theory (Gagnon & Simon, 2005, see also Weiderman, 2015). Simply put, sexual script theory posits that human sexual behaviour is guided by scripts: “the mental representations individuals construct and then use to make sense of their experience, including their own and others’ behavior” (Weiderman, 2015, p. 7). Wright (2011) builds on sexual script theory with his acquisition, activation, and application model of media sexual socialization (3AM; see also Wright & Bae, 2016; Wright & Tokunaga, 2015). The 3AM argues that pornography plays an important role in creating new scripts (acquisition), priming existing scripts (activation), and encouraging the utilization of scripts to inform attitudes and behaviors (application). Accordingly, pornography may influence what is thought of as normative, impacting perceptions of sexuality, sexual situations, sexual behaviours, and evaluations of sexual relations (Hald, Seaman, & Linz, 2014).
There is research indicating that pornography use affects consumers’ attitudes and behaviors in ways that are consistent with sexual script theory. For example, content-analytic studies suggest that mainstream pornography rarely depicts condom use (Gorman, Monk Turner, & Fish, 2010; Vannier, Currie, & O’Sullivan, 2014). To put this in the language of sexual script theory, much pornography contains scripts presenting condomless sex as normative. Wright, Tokunaga, and Kraus (2016) found that university students who frequently consumed pornography judged their peers to be less likely to use condoms (script acquisition and activation) and were themselves more likely to engage in condomless sex (script application). Similarly, pornography use has been found to be associated with a desire to engage in the kinds of sexual practices depicted in pornography (Morgan, 2011), permissiveness towards casual sex (Brown & L’Engle, 2009; Peter & Valkenburg, 2010), and more positive attitudes toward extramarital sex (Wright, Tokunaga, & Bae, 2014). One meta analysis of correlation studies found that pornography use is associated with attitudes supporting violence against women, with a stronger effect for violent pornography (which presumably would be more likely to contain scripts suggesting that violence against women is normative), compared to non-violent pornography (Hald, Malamuth, & Yuen, 2010).
Although these results are consistent with sexual script theory, alternative explanations cannot be ruled out due to the cross-sectional nature of many of these studies. For example, the selective exposure hypothesis (see Wright et al., 2016; Wright & Bae, 2016) would suggest that consumers seek out pornography which reflects their existing attitudes and behavioral tendencies, rather than pornographic scripts shaping these attitudes and behaviors (e.g., those who hold attitudes supporting violence against women may be more likely to seek out violent pornography). It is due to this problem of determining direction of causation that multiple authors (Hald, Seaman, & Linz, 2014; Wright & Bae, 2016) have called for more longitudinal and experimental studies into the effects of pornography.
While it is true that the pornography research literature relies heavily on cross-sectional evidence, some experimental studies are available to draw on. Allen, D’Alessio, and Brezgel (1995) meta-analyzed 33 experiments into the effect of pornography on aggression published between 1971 and 1984. Their analysis found experimental exposure to pornography to increase aggressive behavior. This effect was larger for violent pornography. However, the authors also found that this effect was moderated by experimental manipulation of anger. In the meta-analysis experimental exposure to pornography increased aggressive behaviour, but only among participants who were also provoked by a confederate. More recently, Wright and Tokunaga (2015) exposed male university students to explicit centerfolds. They found that the experimental exposure strengthened the sexual reductionism, masculinity validation, and nonrelational sexual beliefs of participants who did not regularly view such material. The centerfolds had no effect on the attitudes of participants who did regularly view such material (although the sexual reductionism, masculinity validation, and nonrelational sexual beliefs of this group were already high). Similarly, Hald and colleagues exposed male and female participants to 25 mins of non-violent pornographic videos (Hald & Malamuth, 2015; Hald, Malamuth, & Lange, 2013). They found experimental exposure to pornography increased attitudes supporting violence against women and hostile sexism among participants low in agreeableness (but not among those high in agreeableness). They also found experimental exposure to pornography to increase hostile sexism among female participants.
The early experiments meta-analyzed by Allen et al. (1995) have been criticized for
lacking ecological validity (Fisher & Barack, 1991; Fisher & Grenier, 1994)—both in terms
of the laboratory setting in which the studies were carried out and the frequent use of
experimental procedures that provided participants no option but to aggress (e.g., having
participants choose the strength of an electric shock to be delivered to a female confederate,
without giving participants the option of not shocking the confederate). While the more
recently-conducted experiments described above (Hald & Malamuth, 2015; Hald et al., 2013;
Wright & Tokunaga, 2015) differ from these early experiments in terms of the outcome
variables assessed, there are still issues surrounding their ecological validity. It has to be
acknowledged that viewing pornography in a laboratory setting is unusual and potentially
embarrassing for participants, and may affect the way participants respond on outcome
measures. Another issue that needs to be considered in regard to experimental investigations
into the effects of pornography is past exposure. As has been outlined above, the prevalence
of pornography consumption in the population is high (especially among men). As such, it is
questionable as to whether experimental exposure to 15–30 mins of pornographic content (the
typical level of experimental exposure) would be enough to create a meaningful difference
between the control and exposure groups in terms of the treatment (although it may be
enough to prime an existing script). We will refer to this as the past exposure problem.1
Conclusions and Implications
Whereas previous studies have tended to focus on pornography’s influence on consumers’ attitudes (e.g., sexism), the current study focused on pornography’s influence on judgements of frequency and probability, namely men’s judgements of the likelihood of women engaging in porn-like sex in situations similar to those depicted in particular genres of pornography (taxi- and workplace-themed pornography). The study provides some evidence that pornography can influence consumers’ judgements of social reality, by affecting consumers’ perceptions of the likelihood of women enthusiastically engaging in the kinds of sexual practices commonly depicted in pornography.
It could be argued that judgments about the likelihood of women having pornographic sex are less important than pornography’s effects on more general attitudes, such as sexism. However, we would suggest that pornography influencing such probability judgements may still have widespread societal implications, especially given the high prevalence of men’s pornography use. Furthermore, it is possible that perceptions around the likelihood of women engaging in, and enjoying, porn-like sex may themselves act to influence attitudes and behaviours more generally. For example, as is discussed above (see Introduction), Wright et al. (2016) found that pornography consumption is predictive of judging condom usage to be less common among one’s peers, which in turn, is associated with personally engaging in unprotected sex. In the same way, judging women to be more likely to engage in, and enjoy, porn-like sex may influence pornography users’ conceptions of sexual norms, such that users are more likely to believe porn-like sex to be the norm in both short- and long-term relationships. Conceivably this could flow-on to affect consumers’ attitudes (e.g., causing consumers to adopt more positive attitudes toward personally engaging in porn-like sex) and behaviors (e.g., causing consumers to imitate the sexual practices depicted in pornography with sexual partners, or even causing consumers to proposition strangers in the ways depicted in some pornography). In support of this notion, extant cross-sectional research suggests a positive association between pornography use and holding a preference for engaging in the kinds of sexual practices commonly depicted in pornography (Miller, McBain, Li, & Raggatt, 2018; Morgan, 2011). Shifts in pornography users’ conceptions of sexual norms could potentially foster sexual dissatisfaction within relationships. For example, pornography users may feel a sense of relative deprivation if their partners are unwilling to engage in, what they consider to be, “normal” sexual practices. Alternatively, pornography non-users may feel resentment if they are expected, or pressured, to engage in sexual practices which they have no interest in. Similarly, because pornography consumption reinforces the notion that porn-like sex is wildly pleasurable for all involved, pornography users may feel upset (or even sexually inadequate) if their partners do not find pornographic sex to be pleasurable. Alternatively, it could be argued that expanding societal conceptions around what is sexually normative might have positive repercussions, by reducing the stigma associated with sexual practices which have previously been stigmatized. Whether educating consumers on the non-representative nature of pornography would be enough to nullify the deleterious effects of pornography use is unclear.
Liberals prefer the following in their narrative TV programs: innovative structure & style, ambiguous/nuanced depictions of moral issues, storylines that extend beyond individual episodes, diverse casts, & explicit depictions of sexuality & gore
Split screens: A content analysis of American liberals’ and conservatives’ respective television favorites. Nick Rogers. Psychology of Popular Media Culture, Aug 13 , 2018. http://psycnet.apa.org/buy/2018-38804-001
Abstract: This project uses a quantitative content analysis to the realm of scripted narrative TV, to examine how “motivated social cognition” may drive ideological partisans to sort themselves within cultural realms that have no obvious political content. The analysis reveals that the substance of the TV programs disproportionately preferred by either liberals or conservatives differs significantly. Specifically, liberals prefer the following in their narrative TV programs: (a) innovative structure and style, (b) ambiguous/nuanced depictions of moral issues, (c) storylines that extend beyond individual episodes, (d) diverse casts, and (e) explicit depictions of sexuality and gore. Conservatives, by contrast, favor the following: (a) conventional style and predictable storytelling, (b) clear depictions of “good” and “bad,” (c) storylines that are resolved within an individual episode, (d) homogenous casts, and (e) “wholesome” (or absent) depictions of sexuality and gore.
Abstract: This project uses a quantitative content analysis to the realm of scripted narrative TV, to examine how “motivated social cognition” may drive ideological partisans to sort themselves within cultural realms that have no obvious political content. The analysis reveals that the substance of the TV programs disproportionately preferred by either liberals or conservatives differs significantly. Specifically, liberals prefer the following in their narrative TV programs: (a) innovative structure and style, (b) ambiguous/nuanced depictions of moral issues, (c) storylines that extend beyond individual episodes, (d) diverse casts, and (e) explicit depictions of sexuality and gore. Conservatives, by contrast, favor the following: (a) conventional style and predictable storytelling, (b) clear depictions of “good” and “bad,” (c) storylines that are resolved within an individual episode, (d) homogenous casts, and (e) “wholesome” (or absent) depictions of sexuality and gore.
Construing minds as different from bodies entails the intuition that mental well-being has little material substrate which in turn attenuates health-sustaining behaviors
Mind-Body Dualism and Health Revisited. How Belief in Dualism Shapes Health Behavior. Pascal Burgmer, Matthias Forstmann. Social Psychology (2018), 49, pp. 219-230. https://doi.org/10.1027/1864-9335/a000344
Abstract: Does a sound mind require a sound body? Whether or not lay people subscribe to this notion depends on their belief in mind-body dualism and critically shapes their health-related behaviors. Six studies (N = 1,710) revisit the relation between dualism and health. We replicate the negative correlation between belief in dualism and health behavior (Study 1) and extend it to behavior in the field (Study 2). Studies 3a and 3b investigate how belief in dualism shapes intuitions about the material origin of psychological well-being, while Studies 4a and 4b examine how these intuitions determine health-related outcomes. In sum, construing minds as different from bodies entails the intuition that mental well-being has little material substrate which in turn attenuates health-sustaining behaviors.
Keywords: health attitudes, health behavior, mind-body dualism, implicit theories, experimental philosophy
Abstract: Does a sound mind require a sound body? Whether or not lay people subscribe to this notion depends on their belief in mind-body dualism and critically shapes their health-related behaviors. Six studies (N = 1,710) revisit the relation between dualism and health. We replicate the negative correlation between belief in dualism and health behavior (Study 1) and extend it to behavior in the field (Study 2). Studies 3a and 3b investigate how belief in dualism shapes intuitions about the material origin of psychological well-being, while Studies 4a and 4b examine how these intuitions determine health-related outcomes. In sum, construing minds as different from bodies entails the intuition that mental well-being has little material substrate which in turn attenuates health-sustaining behaviors.
Keywords: health attitudes, health behavior, mind-body dualism, implicit theories, experimental philosophy
Sexual coercion perpetrators were more accurate than other violent men in the recognition of female facial disgust; female facial expressions of disgust could be subtle cues to their sexual infidelity that motivate sexual coercion in some men
Facial emotion recognition in violent men. Domagoj Švegar, Karolina Horvat, Igor Kardum. International Journal of Psychology, https://doi.org/10.1002/ijop.12522
Abstract: The goal of this study was to explore the ability of violent men to recognise facial affect. In contrast to traditional approaches to this research question, we took the effects of the models' sex and different types of violent behaviour into consideration. Data obtained from 71 violent men revealed that they recognised facial expressions of fear (p = .019) and disgust (p = .013) more accurately when displayed by female than male models. The opposite was found for angry faces (p = .006), while the models' sex did not affect the recognition of sad, happy and surprised facial expressions or neutral faces. Furthermore, sexual coercion perpetrators were more accurate than other violent men in the recognition of female facial disgust (p = .006). These results are discussed in the context of social learning theory, and the hypothesis that female facial expressions of disgust could be subtle cues to their sexual infidelity that motivate sexual coercion in some men.
Abstract: The goal of this study was to explore the ability of violent men to recognise facial affect. In contrast to traditional approaches to this research question, we took the effects of the models' sex and different types of violent behaviour into consideration. Data obtained from 71 violent men revealed that they recognised facial expressions of fear (p = .019) and disgust (p = .013) more accurately when displayed by female than male models. The opposite was found for angry faces (p = .006), while the models' sex did not affect the recognition of sad, happy and surprised facial expressions or neutral faces. Furthermore, sexual coercion perpetrators were more accurate than other violent men in the recognition of female facial disgust (p = .006). These results are discussed in the context of social learning theory, and the hypothesis that female facial expressions of disgust could be subtle cues to their sexual infidelity that motivate sexual coercion in some men.
The value of odorants in selecting a romantic partner seems to reflect two different underlying attitudes: One values all aspects of the smell of a lover, while the other only finds it important that the lover does not smell badly
Olfactory Awareness and the Self-Reported Importance of Olfactory Information in Romantic Interest. Michelle VanHatten, Caitlin Cunningham, Theresa L. White. Chemosensory Perception, https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12078-018-9248-8
Abstract
Introduction: Many people seem to be looking for similar attributes when searching for a potential romantic partner. Olfactory social cues can be important parts of the process, though there are individual differences as to their value. Gay men, for example, value scent less in selecting a romantic partner than do heterosexual men (White and Cunningham, Chemosens Percept 10:31–41, 2017). Is it possible that the relative importance of olfaction in mate selection is simply a natural consequence of being generally aware of odorants?
Method: The present study examined the relationship between odor awareness and odor importance in mating in two studies. Participants in each of the studies completed both the Romantic Interests Survey (Herz and Inzlich, Evol Hum Behav 23:359–364, 2002) and the Odor Awareness Survey (Smeets et al., Chem Senses 33:725–734, 2008). In the first study, 455 college-aged heterosexual individuals were surveyed, while in the second study, 453 individuals varying in sexual preference (142 heterosexual women, 161 heterosexual men, and 150 gay men) completed the questionnaires.
Results: Principle components analyses from both studies revealed two different components underlying scores on the RIS; one component best accounted for OAS scores. Regression analysis for both studies indicated that OAS scores predicted the first RIS principle component, but not the second one.
Conclusions: The value of odorants in selecting a romantic partner seems to reflect two different underlying attitudes. The first attitude values all aspects of the smell of a lover, while the second only finds it important that the lover does not smell badly. Odor awareness is related only to the first of these attitudes.
Implications: These findings suggest that odor awareness accounts for some of the attitudes concerning the value of odors in mate selection, but not all of them. Other factors, such as the need to avoid aversive stimuli, may also contribute to the relative importance of olfaction in selecting a partner.
Abstract
Introduction: Many people seem to be looking for similar attributes when searching for a potential romantic partner. Olfactory social cues can be important parts of the process, though there are individual differences as to their value. Gay men, for example, value scent less in selecting a romantic partner than do heterosexual men (White and Cunningham, Chemosens Percept 10:31–41, 2017). Is it possible that the relative importance of olfaction in mate selection is simply a natural consequence of being generally aware of odorants?
Method: The present study examined the relationship between odor awareness and odor importance in mating in two studies. Participants in each of the studies completed both the Romantic Interests Survey (Herz and Inzlich, Evol Hum Behav 23:359–364, 2002) and the Odor Awareness Survey (Smeets et al., Chem Senses 33:725–734, 2008). In the first study, 455 college-aged heterosexual individuals were surveyed, while in the second study, 453 individuals varying in sexual preference (142 heterosexual women, 161 heterosexual men, and 150 gay men) completed the questionnaires.
Results: Principle components analyses from both studies revealed two different components underlying scores on the RIS; one component best accounted for OAS scores. Regression analysis for both studies indicated that OAS scores predicted the first RIS principle component, but not the second one.
Conclusions: The value of odorants in selecting a romantic partner seems to reflect two different underlying attitudes. The first attitude values all aspects of the smell of a lover, while the second only finds it important that the lover does not smell badly. Odor awareness is related only to the first of these attitudes.
Implications: These findings suggest that odor awareness accounts for some of the attitudes concerning the value of odors in mate selection, but not all of them. Other factors, such as the need to avoid aversive stimuli, may also contribute to the relative importance of olfaction in selecting a partner.
Older age was correlated to better scores on each of the four financial decision‐making measures, and has more experience‐based knowledge, & less negative emotions about financial decisions (both of which are particularly helpful for better financial decision-making)
Age differences in financial decision making: The benefits of more experience and less negative emotions. Wiebke Eberhardt, Wändi Bruine de Bruin, JoNell Strough. Journal of Behavioral Decision Making, https://doi.org/10.1002/bdm.2097
Abstract: The emerging literature on aging and decision making posits that decision‐making competence changes with age, as a result of age differences in various cognitive and noncognitive individual‐differences characteristics. In a national life‐span sample from the United Kingdom (N = 926), we examined age differences in financial decisions, including performance measures of sunk cost and credit card repayment decisions, and self‐report measures of money management and financial decision outcomes. Participants also completed four individual‐differences characteristics that have been proposed as relevant to financial decision making, including two cognitive ones (numeracy and experience‐based knowledge) and two noncognitive ones (negative emotions about financial decisions). First, we examined how age was related to the four financial decision‐making measures and the four individual‐differences characteristics. Older age was correlated to better scores on each of the four financial decision‐making measures, more experience‐based knowledge, less negative emotions about financial decisions, whereas numeracy and motivation were not significantly correlated with age. Second, we found that considering both the two cognitive and the two noncognitive individual‐differences characteristics increased predictions of financial decision making, as compared with considering either alone. Third, we examined how these four individual‐differences characteristics contributed to age differences in financial decision making. Older adults' higher levels of experience‐based knowledge and lower levels of negative emotions seemed to especially benefit their financial decision making. We discuss implications for theories on aging and decision making, as well as for interventions targeting financial decisions.
Abstract: The emerging literature on aging and decision making posits that decision‐making competence changes with age, as a result of age differences in various cognitive and noncognitive individual‐differences characteristics. In a national life‐span sample from the United Kingdom (N = 926), we examined age differences in financial decisions, including performance measures of sunk cost and credit card repayment decisions, and self‐report measures of money management and financial decision outcomes. Participants also completed four individual‐differences characteristics that have been proposed as relevant to financial decision making, including two cognitive ones (numeracy and experience‐based knowledge) and two noncognitive ones (negative emotions about financial decisions). First, we examined how age was related to the four financial decision‐making measures and the four individual‐differences characteristics. Older age was correlated to better scores on each of the four financial decision‐making measures, more experience‐based knowledge, less negative emotions about financial decisions, whereas numeracy and motivation were not significantly correlated with age. Second, we found that considering both the two cognitive and the two noncognitive individual‐differences characteristics increased predictions of financial decision making, as compared with considering either alone. Third, we examined how these four individual‐differences characteristics contributed to age differences in financial decision making. Older adults' higher levels of experience‐based knowledge and lower levels of negative emotions seemed to especially benefit their financial decision making. We discuss implications for theories on aging and decision making, as well as for interventions targeting financial decisions.
Monday, August 13, 2018
Early life deprivation promotes the development of strategies that minimize the downside costs of uncertainty across domains, which results in greater risk-aversion, present-orientation, & prosociality; these effects need not be dependent on salient cues to mortality
An uncertainty management perspective on long-run impacts of adversity: The influence of childhood socioeconomic status on risk, time, and social preferences. Dorsa Amir, Matthew R. Jordan, David G. Rand. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, Volume 79, November 2018, Pages 217-226. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2018.07.014
Abstract: While there has been a recent increase in focus on the role of early life socioeconomic status (SES) on preferences and decision-making, there is still debate surrounding the proper theoretical framework for understanding such effects. Some have argued that early life SES can fundamentally shift time preferences per se, such that those from low SES backgrounds favor current rewards over future rewards. Others have argued that, while early life SES has lasting effects on behavior, such effects are only observable in the presence of salient cues to mortality. Here, we propose an alternative framework that centers on environmental uncertainty. In this uncertainty management framework, early life deprivation promotes the development of strategies that minimize the downside costs of uncertainty across domains. We argue that this focus on managing uncertainty results in greater risk-aversion, present-orientation, and prosociality. Furthermore, these effects need not be dependent on salient cues to mortality. Across four large samples of participants (total N = 4714), we find that childhood deprivation uniquely predicts greater risk-aversion (both incentivized and hypothetical) and greater prosociality in economic games. Childhood deprivation also predicts greater present-orientation, but not above-and beyond current SES. We further find that mortality cues are not necessary to elicit these differences. Our results support an uncertainty management perspective on the effects of childhood SES on risk, time, and social preferences.
Abstract: While there has been a recent increase in focus on the role of early life socioeconomic status (SES) on preferences and decision-making, there is still debate surrounding the proper theoretical framework for understanding such effects. Some have argued that early life SES can fundamentally shift time preferences per se, such that those from low SES backgrounds favor current rewards over future rewards. Others have argued that, while early life SES has lasting effects on behavior, such effects are only observable in the presence of salient cues to mortality. Here, we propose an alternative framework that centers on environmental uncertainty. In this uncertainty management framework, early life deprivation promotes the development of strategies that minimize the downside costs of uncertainty across domains. We argue that this focus on managing uncertainty results in greater risk-aversion, present-orientation, and prosociality. Furthermore, these effects need not be dependent on salient cues to mortality. Across four large samples of participants (total N = 4714), we find that childhood deprivation uniquely predicts greater risk-aversion (both incentivized and hypothetical) and greater prosociality in economic games. Childhood deprivation also predicts greater present-orientation, but not above-and beyond current SES. We further find that mortality cues are not necessary to elicit these differences. Our results support an uncertainty management perspective on the effects of childhood SES on risk, time, and social preferences.
Women are attracted to men who display heroism and altruism, this preference is higher when the male is attractive compared to unattractive, and preferences for prosocial traits were higher when seeking a long-term compared to a short-term partner
Margana, Lacey, Manpal S. Bhogal, James E. Bartlett, and Daniel Farrelly. 2018. “Exploring Altruism and Heroism: The Effects of Physical Attraction in Female Mate Choice.” PsyArXiv. August 13. doi:10.31234/osf.io/kgpv
Abstract: The role of prosocial behaviour in female mate choice has been extensively explored, focusing on the desirability of altruism in potential mates, as well as altruism being a mating signal. However, little research has focused on the desirability of heroism and altruism in potential partners. Furthermore, the synergistic effect of attractiveness on the desirability of prosocial traits has only recently been explored, and to our knowledge, has not explored in relation to the desirability of heroism in a romantic partner. We explored the effect of prosociality and attractiveness on female desirability ratings (n=198), and whether desirability was influenced by whether women were seeking a short-term or long-term relationship. We find that women are attracted to men who display heroism and altruism, and this preference is higher when the male is attractive compared to unattractive. Furthermore, preferences for prosocial traits were higher when seeking a long-term compared to a short-term partner. Our findings add to the literature on prosocial behaviour and mate choice.
Abstract: The role of prosocial behaviour in female mate choice has been extensively explored, focusing on the desirability of altruism in potential mates, as well as altruism being a mating signal. However, little research has focused on the desirability of heroism and altruism in potential partners. Furthermore, the synergistic effect of attractiveness on the desirability of prosocial traits has only recently been explored, and to our knowledge, has not explored in relation to the desirability of heroism in a romantic partner. We explored the effect of prosociality and attractiveness on female desirability ratings (n=198), and whether desirability was influenced by whether women were seeking a short-term or long-term relationship. We find that women are attracted to men who display heroism and altruism, and this preference is higher when the male is attractive compared to unattractive. Furthermore, preferences for prosocial traits were higher when seeking a long-term compared to a short-term partner. Our findings add to the literature on prosocial behaviour and mate choice.
Phaesants: Apparently ‘poor’ cognitive performance (slow reversal speed suggesting low behavioural flexibility) correlates with fitness benefits in at least some circumstances, implying a novel mechanism by which continued exaggeration of cognitive abilities may be constrained
The quick are the dead: pheasants that are slow to reverse a learned association survive for longer in the wild. Joah R. Madden, Ellis J. G. Langley, Mark A. Whiteside, Christine E. Beardsworth, Jayden O. van Horik. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, September 26 2018, Volume 373, issue 1756. http://rstb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/373/1756/20170297
Abstract: Cognitive abilities probably evolve through natural selection if they provide individuals with fitness benefits. A growing number of studies demonstrate a positive relationship between performance in psychometric tasks and (proxy) measures of fitness. We assayed the performance of 154 common pheasant (Phasianus colchicus) chicks on tests of acquisition and reversal learning, using a different set of chicks and different set of cue types (spatial location and colour) in each of two years and then followed their fates after release into the wild. Across all birds, individuals that were slow to reverse previously learned associations were more likely to survive to four months old. For heavy birds, individuals that rapidly acquired an association had improved survival to four months, whereas for light birds, slow acquirers were more likely to be alive. Slow reversers also exhibited less exploratory behaviour in assays when five weeks old. Fast acquirers visited more artificial feeders after release. In contrast to most other studies, we showed that apparently ‘poor’ cognitive performance (slow reversal speed suggesting low behavioural flexibility) correlates with fitness benefits in at least some circumstances. This correlation suggests a novel mechanism by which continued exaggeration of cognitive abilities may be constrained.
---
1. Introduction
One powerful approach to understand how natural selection may act on cognition is to measure the performance of individuals in a particular cognitive domain, and then explore how their performance correlates with a (proxy) fitness measure [1,2]. This is achieved by deploying explicit psychometric tasks targeting specific, defined cognitive processes [3,4]. Because fitness itself is hard to measure [5], researchers tend to use proxies that are presumed to correspond to reproductive success and/or survival. This correlational approach has predominantly revealed a positive relationship between an individual's performance in the psychometric task and a (proxy) measure of their fitness. Ants Lasius niger that exhibited faster route learning had greater colony-level foraging success [6]. Male African striped mice (Rhabdomys pumilio) that escaped quickly from mazes also had increased probability of surviving to the breeding season [7]. Male guppies (Poecilia reticulata) that learned mazes quickly were preferred by females [8]. Male bitterling (Rhodeus ocellatus) (practising a ‘sneaker’ strategy) that exhibited better maze learning subsequently had higher reproductive success [9]. Male song sparrows (Melospiza melodia) that demonstrated better control in a detour-reaching task had a larger song repertoire [10]. Male starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) with better spatial learning exhibited longer song bouts [11]. One study of female Australian magpies (Cracticus tibicen dorsalis) reported a link between their reproductive success and a general factor summarizing their performance in a battery of four tasks [12]. By contrast, a study of spotted bowerbirds (Ptilonorhynchus maculatus) found no relationship between a male's mating success and his performance in a battery of six tasks, either individually or when his performance was summarized by a single component [13]. Only one study has reported a negative relationship: male song sparrows that were fast at spatial learning also had smaller song repertoires [14]. This implies that natural selection generally leads to more exaggerated cognitive performance and associated abilities.
Interpretation of these previous studies is complicated by three factors. First, in all cases except one [12], a single assay has been used for each cognitive process being investigated. Reliance on a single assay risks a misattribution of the mechanisms driving individual performance. For example, learning to discriminate between two colour cues may indicate the specific ability or inherent motivation to prefer one colour over another [3], rather than the more general ability to learn associatively. A more robust method would be to use two (or more) tests that assay the same putative cognitive mechanism but differ in format or cue uses and hence triangulate on the outcome (Volter et al. [15]). We considered two ubiquitous cognitive processes and tested each using two different test variants. Associative learning involves learning to associate a stimulus with a reward and may be tested using a binary discrimination. Reversal learning may be measured by the speed at which such a previously learned association can be reversed. Reversal learning is considered to indicate an individual's ability to exert executive, inhibitory control and thus be behaviourally flexible ([16,17] corvids (Gymnorhinus cyanocephalus, Nucifraga columbiana, Aphelocoma californica); but see also [18] humans). The processes have been linked to specific behaviours and fitness consequences. Associative learning performance determines adult foraging strategies ([19] sparrow, Passer domesticus) and rapid learning speeds enhance individual's foraging or reproductive success ([20,21] grasshopper, Schistocerca americana; wasp, Biosteres arisanus). Flexibility permits rapid switching between different optimal decisions in changeable environments [22] so that more behaviourally flexible individuals have improved invasion success ([23] Birds) or a better ability to track fluctuating social groups ([24] Primates). The two processes (associative learning and reversal learning) may be closely related to one another. In several other species, speeds of associative learning and reversal learning are negatively related ([25–27] myna, chickadee, scrub-jay (Aphelocoma coerulescens), red junglefowl (Gallus gallus)). However, this negative relationship is not inevitable ([13,28] bowerbird, robin (Petroica longipes)) and indeed may be positive [29] or moderated by another factor e.g. testosterone [25].
Second, previous studies have not attempted to explicitly test how performance in abstract cognitive tasks relates to specific behaviours upon which selection may act. For example, it is not clear how improved inhibitory control as revealed by performance in a detour task may relate to song-learning processes [10], or how the ability to navigate a maze manifests in improved mating success [9]. One possibility is that cognitive performances and natural behaviours are linked by an overarching personality, such that an individual's behaviour in one context (a cognitive task) is linked to their behaviour in another context [30,31]. Alternatively, a cognitive ability has an immediate link to a natural behaviour, independent of personality. For example, performance in maze learning may correspond to the methods by which an individual learns to navigate their environment and recall feeding and refuge locations. By explicitly testing how cognitive abilities relate to broader personality assays, or more specific behaviours likely to relate to fitness outcomes, we can better understand how selection may act on these abilities.
Finally, studies have either had to test wild individuals for whom prior experience, social ranking and/or age is unknown, or they have relied on laboratory systems where the putative fitness consequences are hard to relate to the natural world. Administering controlled psychometric tests to wild animals, in which a large, random and reasonably complete sample of individuals participate over a large number of repeated presentations is problematic [1–4]. One solution is to capture animals from the wild and take them into captivity where they can be tested before release back into the wild. This approach encounters two problems. First, capture may not be random [32], so that the sample tested is not representative of the wild population. Second, individuals may have undergone different prior experiences that could lead to biases or preferences (e.g. for a particular colour) developed in other contexts that skew their performance in tests [3]. Such problems may be overcome by testing captive-reared individuals where prior experiences can be controlled and participation ensured. However, captive animals are not subject to natural selective pressures because predators are excluded and resources are provided in excess, and hence robust and relevant fitness measures are difficult to collect. This may explain why previous studies have used proxy measures of fitness.
We made use of a unique study system, the common pheasant (Phasianus colchicus) (hereafter pheasants). In the UK, these birds can be reared in captivity from hatching and subsequently released into the wild (for hunting). This ensures that individuals all experience identical developmental trajectories and prior experiences, all can be tested under controlled conditions and, critically, after release can be subject to natural selective pressures in the wild, where their fates can be monitored. We reared pheasant chicks from hatching to 10 weeks under controlled conditions in 2014 and 2015, and during this time we could subject them to psychometric tests of acquisition and reversal learning [33]. We used two sets of tests of particular processes, specifically the acquisition and reversal of associations between cues and rewards, using two different task paradigms (one discriminating colours and the other discriminating spatial positions on the test apparatus), with one task paradigm used in each year, to improve our confidence that it was the cognitive process that we were measuring rather than simply response to one particular set of cues. Critically, we then released birds into the wild and followed their fates, using survival as an unambiguous indicator of their fitness. Pheasant survival may be affected by year [34,35], sex ([36,37], but see also [38]), mass ([39], but see also [40]) and interactions between them (e.g. [41]). Therefore, we considered these in conjunction with performances in the cognitive tests. Pheasant mortality is typically high, especially in early life when birds are first independent, due to both terrestrial and avian predators [41,42]. This mortality occurs when pheasants disperse from their open-topped release pens and hence encounter novel predators and move away from artificial food provision. Pheasants that leave such safe release sites and fail to learn new foraging locations or refuges from predators are likely to be highly susceptible. We asked whether survival was predicted by a pheasant's early life performance in psychometric tests of learning and reversal, controlling for other non-cognitive factors such as sex and mass. Given the ambiguous relationship previously reported between an individual's speed of acquisition and reversal [13,25–29], we tested how performances in these two tasks were related to each other in pheasants. We then explored two mechanisms by which any such relationships between cognition and fitness may be mediated by their movement and exploration. As pheasants moved further away from their point of release (in a protected and provisioned pen—see below), they would encounter higher densities of predators and lower densities of artificial food supplies, and hence face an increased risk of predation or starvation. First, we tested how an individual's exploratory behaviour in a series of assays under controlled conditions when five weeks old correlated with their cognitive ability. Second, we tested how early life cognitive performance related to adult ranging behaviour after release.
The quick are the dead: pheasants that are slow to reverse a learned association survive for longer in the wild. Joah R. Madden, Ellis J. G. Langley, Mark A. Whiteside, Christine E. Beardsworth, Jayden O. van Horik. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, September 26 2018, Volume 373, issue 1756. http://rstb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/373/1756/20170297
Abstract: Cognitive abilities probably evolve through natural selection if they provide individuals with fitness benefits. A growing number of studies demonstrate a positive relationship between performance in psychometric tasks and (proxy) measures of fitness. We assayed the performance of 154 common pheasant (Phasianus colchicus) chicks on tests of acquisition and reversal learning, using a different set of chicks and different set of cue types (spatial location and colour) in each of two years and then followed their fates after release into the wild. Across all birds, individuals that were slow to reverse previously learned associations were more likely to survive to four months old. For heavy birds, individuals that rapidly acquired an association had improved survival to four months, whereas for light birds, slow acquirers were more likely to be alive. Slow reversers also exhibited less exploratory behaviour in assays when five weeks old. Fast acquirers visited more artificial feeders after release. In contrast to most other studies, we showed that apparently ‘poor’ cognitive performance (slow reversal speed suggesting low behavioural flexibility) correlates with fitness benefits in at least some circumstances. This correlation suggests a novel mechanism by which continued exaggeration of cognitive abilities may be constrained.
---
1. Introduction
One powerful approach to understand how natural selection may act on cognition is to measure the performance of individuals in a particular cognitive domain, and then explore how their performance correlates with a (proxy) fitness measure [1,2]. This is achieved by deploying explicit psychometric tasks targeting specific, defined cognitive processes [3,4]. Because fitness itself is hard to measure [5], researchers tend to use proxies that are presumed to correspond to reproductive success and/or survival. This correlational approach has predominantly revealed a positive relationship between an individual's performance in the psychometric task and a (proxy) measure of their fitness. Ants Lasius niger that exhibited faster route learning had greater colony-level foraging success [6]. Male African striped mice (Rhabdomys pumilio) that escaped quickly from mazes also had increased probability of surviving to the breeding season [7]. Male guppies (Poecilia reticulata) that learned mazes quickly were preferred by females [8]. Male bitterling (Rhodeus ocellatus) (practising a ‘sneaker’ strategy) that exhibited better maze learning subsequently had higher reproductive success [9]. Male song sparrows (Melospiza melodia) that demonstrated better control in a detour-reaching task had a larger song repertoire [10]. Male starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) with better spatial learning exhibited longer song bouts [11]. One study of female Australian magpies (Cracticus tibicen dorsalis) reported a link between their reproductive success and a general factor summarizing their performance in a battery of four tasks [12]. By contrast, a study of spotted bowerbirds (Ptilonorhynchus maculatus) found no relationship between a male's mating success and his performance in a battery of six tasks, either individually or when his performance was summarized by a single component [13]. Only one study has reported a negative relationship: male song sparrows that were fast at spatial learning also had smaller song repertoires [14]. This implies that natural selection generally leads to more exaggerated cognitive performance and associated abilities.
Interpretation of these previous studies is complicated by three factors. First, in all cases except one [12], a single assay has been used for each cognitive process being investigated. Reliance on a single assay risks a misattribution of the mechanisms driving individual performance. For example, learning to discriminate between two colour cues may indicate the specific ability or inherent motivation to prefer one colour over another [3], rather than the more general ability to learn associatively. A more robust method would be to use two (or more) tests that assay the same putative cognitive mechanism but differ in format or cue uses and hence triangulate on the outcome (Volter et al. [15]). We considered two ubiquitous cognitive processes and tested each using two different test variants. Associative learning involves learning to associate a stimulus with a reward and may be tested using a binary discrimination. Reversal learning may be measured by the speed at which such a previously learned association can be reversed. Reversal learning is considered to indicate an individual's ability to exert executive, inhibitory control and thus be behaviourally flexible ([16,17] corvids (Gymnorhinus cyanocephalus, Nucifraga columbiana, Aphelocoma californica); but see also [18] humans). The processes have been linked to specific behaviours and fitness consequences. Associative learning performance determines adult foraging strategies ([19] sparrow, Passer domesticus) and rapid learning speeds enhance individual's foraging or reproductive success ([20,21] grasshopper, Schistocerca americana; wasp, Biosteres arisanus). Flexibility permits rapid switching between different optimal decisions in changeable environments [22] so that more behaviourally flexible individuals have improved invasion success ([23] Birds) or a better ability to track fluctuating social groups ([24] Primates). The two processes (associative learning and reversal learning) may be closely related to one another. In several other species, speeds of associative learning and reversal learning are negatively related ([25–27] myna, chickadee, scrub-jay (Aphelocoma coerulescens), red junglefowl (Gallus gallus)). However, this negative relationship is not inevitable ([13,28] bowerbird, robin (Petroica longipes)) and indeed may be positive [29] or moderated by another factor e.g. testosterone [25].
Second, previous studies have not attempted to explicitly test how performance in abstract cognitive tasks relates to specific behaviours upon which selection may act. For example, it is not clear how improved inhibitory control as revealed by performance in a detour task may relate to song-learning processes [10], or how the ability to navigate a maze manifests in improved mating success [9]. One possibility is that cognitive performances and natural behaviours are linked by an overarching personality, such that an individual's behaviour in one context (a cognitive task) is linked to their behaviour in another context [30,31]. Alternatively, a cognitive ability has an immediate link to a natural behaviour, independent of personality. For example, performance in maze learning may correspond to the methods by which an individual learns to navigate their environment and recall feeding and refuge locations. By explicitly testing how cognitive abilities relate to broader personality assays, or more specific behaviours likely to relate to fitness outcomes, we can better understand how selection may act on these abilities.
Finally, studies have either had to test wild individuals for whom prior experience, social ranking and/or age is unknown, or they have relied on laboratory systems where the putative fitness consequences are hard to relate to the natural world. Administering controlled psychometric tests to wild animals, in which a large, random and reasonably complete sample of individuals participate over a large number of repeated presentations is problematic [1–4]. One solution is to capture animals from the wild and take them into captivity where they can be tested before release back into the wild. This approach encounters two problems. First, capture may not be random [32], so that the sample tested is not representative of the wild population. Second, individuals may have undergone different prior experiences that could lead to biases or preferences (e.g. for a particular colour) developed in other contexts that skew their performance in tests [3]. Such problems may be overcome by testing captive-reared individuals where prior experiences can be controlled and participation ensured. However, captive animals are not subject to natural selective pressures because predators are excluded and resources are provided in excess, and hence robust and relevant fitness measures are difficult to collect. This may explain why previous studies have used proxy measures of fitness.
We made use of a unique study system, the common pheasant (Phasianus colchicus) (hereafter pheasants). In the UK, these birds can be reared in captivity from hatching and subsequently released into the wild (for hunting). This ensures that individuals all experience identical developmental trajectories and prior experiences, all can be tested under controlled conditions and, critically, after release can be subject to natural selective pressures in the wild, where their fates can be monitored. We reared pheasant chicks from hatching to 10 weeks under controlled conditions in 2014 and 2015, and during this time we could subject them to psychometric tests of acquisition and reversal learning [33]. We used two sets of tests of particular processes, specifically the acquisition and reversal of associations between cues and rewards, using two different task paradigms (one discriminating colours and the other discriminating spatial positions on the test apparatus), with one task paradigm used in each year, to improve our confidence that it was the cognitive process that we were measuring rather than simply response to one particular set of cues. Critically, we then released birds into the wild and followed their fates, using survival as an unambiguous indicator of their fitness. Pheasant survival may be affected by year [34,35], sex ([36,37], but see also [38]), mass ([39], but see also [40]) and interactions between them (e.g. [41]). Therefore, we considered these in conjunction with performances in the cognitive tests. Pheasant mortality is typically high, especially in early life when birds are first independent, due to both terrestrial and avian predators [41,42]. This mortality occurs when pheasants disperse from their open-topped release pens and hence encounter novel predators and move away from artificial food provision. Pheasants that leave such safe release sites and fail to learn new foraging locations or refuges from predators are likely to be highly susceptible. We asked whether survival was predicted by a pheasant's early life performance in psychometric tests of learning and reversal, controlling for other non-cognitive factors such as sex and mass. Given the ambiguous relationship previously reported between an individual's speed of acquisition and reversal [13,25–29], we tested how performances in these two tasks were related to each other in pheasants. We then explored two mechanisms by which any such relationships between cognition and fitness may be mediated by their movement and exploration. As pheasants moved further away from their point of release (in a protected and provisioned pen—see below), they would encounter higher densities of predators and lower densities of artificial food supplies, and hence face an increased risk of predation or starvation. First, we tested how an individual's exploratory behaviour in a series of assays under controlled conditions when five weeks old correlated with their cognitive ability. Second, we tested how early life cognitive performance related to adult ranging behaviour after release.
Abstract: Cognitive abilities probably evolve through natural selection if they provide individuals with fitness benefits. A growing number of studies demonstrate a positive relationship between performance in psychometric tasks and (proxy) measures of fitness. We assayed the performance of 154 common pheasant (Phasianus colchicus) chicks on tests of acquisition and reversal learning, using a different set of chicks and different set of cue types (spatial location and colour) in each of two years and then followed their fates after release into the wild. Across all birds, individuals that were slow to reverse previously learned associations were more likely to survive to four months old. For heavy birds, individuals that rapidly acquired an association had improved survival to four months, whereas for light birds, slow acquirers were more likely to be alive. Slow reversers also exhibited less exploratory behaviour in assays when five weeks old. Fast acquirers visited more artificial feeders after release. In contrast to most other studies, we showed that apparently ‘poor’ cognitive performance (slow reversal speed suggesting low behavioural flexibility) correlates with fitness benefits in at least some circumstances. This correlation suggests a novel mechanism by which continued exaggeration of cognitive abilities may be constrained.
---
1. Introduction
One powerful approach to understand how natural selection may act on cognition is to measure the performance of individuals in a particular cognitive domain, and then explore how their performance correlates with a (proxy) fitness measure [1,2]. This is achieved by deploying explicit psychometric tasks targeting specific, defined cognitive processes [3,4]. Because fitness itself is hard to measure [5], researchers tend to use proxies that are presumed to correspond to reproductive success and/or survival. This correlational approach has predominantly revealed a positive relationship between an individual's performance in the psychometric task and a (proxy) measure of their fitness. Ants Lasius niger that exhibited faster route learning had greater colony-level foraging success [6]. Male African striped mice (Rhabdomys pumilio) that escaped quickly from mazes also had increased probability of surviving to the breeding season [7]. Male guppies (Poecilia reticulata) that learned mazes quickly were preferred by females [8]. Male bitterling (Rhodeus ocellatus) (practising a ‘sneaker’ strategy) that exhibited better maze learning subsequently had higher reproductive success [9]. Male song sparrows (Melospiza melodia) that demonstrated better control in a detour-reaching task had a larger song repertoire [10]. Male starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) with better spatial learning exhibited longer song bouts [11]. One study of female Australian magpies (Cracticus tibicen dorsalis) reported a link between their reproductive success and a general factor summarizing their performance in a battery of four tasks [12]. By contrast, a study of spotted bowerbirds (Ptilonorhynchus maculatus) found no relationship between a male's mating success and his performance in a battery of six tasks, either individually or when his performance was summarized by a single component [13]. Only one study has reported a negative relationship: male song sparrows that were fast at spatial learning also had smaller song repertoires [14]. This implies that natural selection generally leads to more exaggerated cognitive performance and associated abilities.
Interpretation of these previous studies is complicated by three factors. First, in all cases except one [12], a single assay has been used for each cognitive process being investigated. Reliance on a single assay risks a misattribution of the mechanisms driving individual performance. For example, learning to discriminate between two colour cues may indicate the specific ability or inherent motivation to prefer one colour over another [3], rather than the more general ability to learn associatively. A more robust method would be to use two (or more) tests that assay the same putative cognitive mechanism but differ in format or cue uses and hence triangulate on the outcome (Volter et al. [15]). We considered two ubiquitous cognitive processes and tested each using two different test variants. Associative learning involves learning to associate a stimulus with a reward and may be tested using a binary discrimination. Reversal learning may be measured by the speed at which such a previously learned association can be reversed. Reversal learning is considered to indicate an individual's ability to exert executive, inhibitory control and thus be behaviourally flexible ([16,17] corvids (Gymnorhinus cyanocephalus, Nucifraga columbiana, Aphelocoma californica); but see also [18] humans). The processes have been linked to specific behaviours and fitness consequences. Associative learning performance determines adult foraging strategies ([19] sparrow, Passer domesticus) and rapid learning speeds enhance individual's foraging or reproductive success ([20,21] grasshopper, Schistocerca americana; wasp, Biosteres arisanus). Flexibility permits rapid switching between different optimal decisions in changeable environments [22] so that more behaviourally flexible individuals have improved invasion success ([23] Birds) or a better ability to track fluctuating social groups ([24] Primates). The two processes (associative learning and reversal learning) may be closely related to one another. In several other species, speeds of associative learning and reversal learning are negatively related ([25–27] myna, chickadee, scrub-jay (Aphelocoma coerulescens), red junglefowl (Gallus gallus)). However, this negative relationship is not inevitable ([13,28] bowerbird, robin (Petroica longipes)) and indeed may be positive [29] or moderated by another factor e.g. testosterone [25].
Second, previous studies have not attempted to explicitly test how performance in abstract cognitive tasks relates to specific behaviours upon which selection may act. For example, it is not clear how improved inhibitory control as revealed by performance in a detour task may relate to song-learning processes [10], or how the ability to navigate a maze manifests in improved mating success [9]. One possibility is that cognitive performances and natural behaviours are linked by an overarching personality, such that an individual's behaviour in one context (a cognitive task) is linked to their behaviour in another context [30,31]. Alternatively, a cognitive ability has an immediate link to a natural behaviour, independent of personality. For example, performance in maze learning may correspond to the methods by which an individual learns to navigate their environment and recall feeding and refuge locations. By explicitly testing how cognitive abilities relate to broader personality assays, or more specific behaviours likely to relate to fitness outcomes, we can better understand how selection may act on these abilities.
Finally, studies have either had to test wild individuals for whom prior experience, social ranking and/or age is unknown, or they have relied on laboratory systems where the putative fitness consequences are hard to relate to the natural world. Administering controlled psychometric tests to wild animals, in which a large, random and reasonably complete sample of individuals participate over a large number of repeated presentations is problematic [1–4]. One solution is to capture animals from the wild and take them into captivity where they can be tested before release back into the wild. This approach encounters two problems. First, capture may not be random [32], so that the sample tested is not representative of the wild population. Second, individuals may have undergone different prior experiences that could lead to biases or preferences (e.g. for a particular colour) developed in other contexts that skew their performance in tests [3]. Such problems may be overcome by testing captive-reared individuals where prior experiences can be controlled and participation ensured. However, captive animals are not subject to natural selective pressures because predators are excluded and resources are provided in excess, and hence robust and relevant fitness measures are difficult to collect. This may explain why previous studies have used proxy measures of fitness.
We made use of a unique study system, the common pheasant (Phasianus colchicus) (hereafter pheasants). In the UK, these birds can be reared in captivity from hatching and subsequently released into the wild (for hunting). This ensures that individuals all experience identical developmental trajectories and prior experiences, all can be tested under controlled conditions and, critically, after release can be subject to natural selective pressures in the wild, where their fates can be monitored. We reared pheasant chicks from hatching to 10 weeks under controlled conditions in 2014 and 2015, and during this time we could subject them to psychometric tests of acquisition and reversal learning [33]. We used two sets of tests of particular processes, specifically the acquisition and reversal of associations between cues and rewards, using two different task paradigms (one discriminating colours and the other discriminating spatial positions on the test apparatus), with one task paradigm used in each year, to improve our confidence that it was the cognitive process that we were measuring rather than simply response to one particular set of cues. Critically, we then released birds into the wild and followed their fates, using survival as an unambiguous indicator of their fitness. Pheasant survival may be affected by year [34,35], sex ([36,37], but see also [38]), mass ([39], but see also [40]) and interactions between them (e.g. [41]). Therefore, we considered these in conjunction with performances in the cognitive tests. Pheasant mortality is typically high, especially in early life when birds are first independent, due to both terrestrial and avian predators [41,42]. This mortality occurs when pheasants disperse from their open-topped release pens and hence encounter novel predators and move away from artificial food provision. Pheasants that leave such safe release sites and fail to learn new foraging locations or refuges from predators are likely to be highly susceptible. We asked whether survival was predicted by a pheasant's early life performance in psychometric tests of learning and reversal, controlling for other non-cognitive factors such as sex and mass. Given the ambiguous relationship previously reported between an individual's speed of acquisition and reversal [13,25–29], we tested how performances in these two tasks were related to each other in pheasants. We then explored two mechanisms by which any such relationships between cognition and fitness may be mediated by their movement and exploration. As pheasants moved further away from their point of release (in a protected and provisioned pen—see below), they would encounter higher densities of predators and lower densities of artificial food supplies, and hence face an increased risk of predation or starvation. First, we tested how an individual's exploratory behaviour in a series of assays under controlled conditions when five weeks old correlated with their cognitive ability. Second, we tested how early life cognitive performance related to adult ranging behaviour after release.
The quick are the dead: pheasants that are slow to reverse a learned association survive for longer in the wild. Joah R. Madden, Ellis J. G. Langley, Mark A. Whiteside, Christine E. Beardsworth, Jayden O. van Horik. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, September 26 2018, Volume 373, issue 1756. http://rstb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/373/1756/20170297
Abstract: Cognitive abilities probably evolve through natural selection if they provide individuals with fitness benefits. A growing number of studies demonstrate a positive relationship between performance in psychometric tasks and (proxy) measures of fitness. We assayed the performance of 154 common pheasant (Phasianus colchicus) chicks on tests of acquisition and reversal learning, using a different set of chicks and different set of cue types (spatial location and colour) in each of two years and then followed their fates after release into the wild. Across all birds, individuals that were slow to reverse previously learned associations were more likely to survive to four months old. For heavy birds, individuals that rapidly acquired an association had improved survival to four months, whereas for light birds, slow acquirers were more likely to be alive. Slow reversers also exhibited less exploratory behaviour in assays when five weeks old. Fast acquirers visited more artificial feeders after release. In contrast to most other studies, we showed that apparently ‘poor’ cognitive performance (slow reversal speed suggesting low behavioural flexibility) correlates with fitness benefits in at least some circumstances. This correlation suggests a novel mechanism by which continued exaggeration of cognitive abilities may be constrained.
---
1. Introduction
One powerful approach to understand how natural selection may act on cognition is to measure the performance of individuals in a particular cognitive domain, and then explore how their performance correlates with a (proxy) fitness measure [1,2]. This is achieved by deploying explicit psychometric tasks targeting specific, defined cognitive processes [3,4]. Because fitness itself is hard to measure [5], researchers tend to use proxies that are presumed to correspond to reproductive success and/or survival. This correlational approach has predominantly revealed a positive relationship between an individual's performance in the psychometric task and a (proxy) measure of their fitness. Ants Lasius niger that exhibited faster route learning had greater colony-level foraging success [6]. Male African striped mice (Rhabdomys pumilio) that escaped quickly from mazes also had increased probability of surviving to the breeding season [7]. Male guppies (Poecilia reticulata) that learned mazes quickly were preferred by females [8]. Male bitterling (Rhodeus ocellatus) (practising a ‘sneaker’ strategy) that exhibited better maze learning subsequently had higher reproductive success [9]. Male song sparrows (Melospiza melodia) that demonstrated better control in a detour-reaching task had a larger song repertoire [10]. Male starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) with better spatial learning exhibited longer song bouts [11]. One study of female Australian magpies (Cracticus tibicen dorsalis) reported a link between their reproductive success and a general factor summarizing their performance in a battery of four tasks [12]. By contrast, a study of spotted bowerbirds (Ptilonorhynchus maculatus) found no relationship between a male's mating success and his performance in a battery of six tasks, either individually or when his performance was summarized by a single component [13]. Only one study has reported a negative relationship: male song sparrows that were fast at spatial learning also had smaller song repertoires [14]. This implies that natural selection generally leads to more exaggerated cognitive performance and associated abilities.
Interpretation of these previous studies is complicated by three factors. First, in all cases except one [12], a single assay has been used for each cognitive process being investigated. Reliance on a single assay risks a misattribution of the mechanisms driving individual performance. For example, learning to discriminate between two colour cues may indicate the specific ability or inherent motivation to prefer one colour over another [3], rather than the more general ability to learn associatively. A more robust method would be to use two (or more) tests that assay the same putative cognitive mechanism but differ in format or cue uses and hence triangulate on the outcome (Volter et al. [15]). We considered two ubiquitous cognitive processes and tested each using two different test variants. Associative learning involves learning to associate a stimulus with a reward and may be tested using a binary discrimination. Reversal learning may be measured by the speed at which such a previously learned association can be reversed. Reversal learning is considered to indicate an individual's ability to exert executive, inhibitory control and thus be behaviourally flexible ([16,17] corvids (Gymnorhinus cyanocephalus, Nucifraga columbiana, Aphelocoma californica); but see also [18] humans). The processes have been linked to specific behaviours and fitness consequences. Associative learning performance determines adult foraging strategies ([19] sparrow, Passer domesticus) and rapid learning speeds enhance individual's foraging or reproductive success ([20,21] grasshopper, Schistocerca americana; wasp, Biosteres arisanus). Flexibility permits rapid switching between different optimal decisions in changeable environments [22] so that more behaviourally flexible individuals have improved invasion success ([23] Birds) or a better ability to track fluctuating social groups ([24] Primates). The two processes (associative learning and reversal learning) may be closely related to one another. In several other species, speeds of associative learning and reversal learning are negatively related ([25–27] myna, chickadee, scrub-jay (Aphelocoma coerulescens), red junglefowl (Gallus gallus)). However, this negative relationship is not inevitable ([13,28] bowerbird, robin (Petroica longipes)) and indeed may be positive [29] or moderated by another factor e.g. testosterone [25].
Second, previous studies have not attempted to explicitly test how performance in abstract cognitive tasks relates to specific behaviours upon which selection may act. For example, it is not clear how improved inhibitory control as revealed by performance in a detour task may relate to song-learning processes [10], or how the ability to navigate a maze manifests in improved mating success [9]. One possibility is that cognitive performances and natural behaviours are linked by an overarching personality, such that an individual's behaviour in one context (a cognitive task) is linked to their behaviour in another context [30,31]. Alternatively, a cognitive ability has an immediate link to a natural behaviour, independent of personality. For example, performance in maze learning may correspond to the methods by which an individual learns to navigate their environment and recall feeding and refuge locations. By explicitly testing how cognitive abilities relate to broader personality assays, or more specific behaviours likely to relate to fitness outcomes, we can better understand how selection may act on these abilities.
Finally, studies have either had to test wild individuals for whom prior experience, social ranking and/or age is unknown, or they have relied on laboratory systems where the putative fitness consequences are hard to relate to the natural world. Administering controlled psychometric tests to wild animals, in which a large, random and reasonably complete sample of individuals participate over a large number of repeated presentations is problematic [1–4]. One solution is to capture animals from the wild and take them into captivity where they can be tested before release back into the wild. This approach encounters two problems. First, capture may not be random [32], so that the sample tested is not representative of the wild population. Second, individuals may have undergone different prior experiences that could lead to biases or preferences (e.g. for a particular colour) developed in other contexts that skew their performance in tests [3]. Such problems may be overcome by testing captive-reared individuals where prior experiences can be controlled and participation ensured. However, captive animals are not subject to natural selective pressures because predators are excluded and resources are provided in excess, and hence robust and relevant fitness measures are difficult to collect. This may explain why previous studies have used proxy measures of fitness.
We made use of a unique study system, the common pheasant (Phasianus colchicus) (hereafter pheasants). In the UK, these birds can be reared in captivity from hatching and subsequently released into the wild (for hunting). This ensures that individuals all experience identical developmental trajectories and prior experiences, all can be tested under controlled conditions and, critically, after release can be subject to natural selective pressures in the wild, where their fates can be monitored. We reared pheasant chicks from hatching to 10 weeks under controlled conditions in 2014 and 2015, and during this time we could subject them to psychometric tests of acquisition and reversal learning [33]. We used two sets of tests of particular processes, specifically the acquisition and reversal of associations between cues and rewards, using two different task paradigms (one discriminating colours and the other discriminating spatial positions on the test apparatus), with one task paradigm used in each year, to improve our confidence that it was the cognitive process that we were measuring rather than simply response to one particular set of cues. Critically, we then released birds into the wild and followed their fates, using survival as an unambiguous indicator of their fitness. Pheasant survival may be affected by year [34,35], sex ([36,37], but see also [38]), mass ([39], but see also [40]) and interactions between them (e.g. [41]). Therefore, we considered these in conjunction with performances in the cognitive tests. Pheasant mortality is typically high, especially in early life when birds are first independent, due to both terrestrial and avian predators [41,42]. This mortality occurs when pheasants disperse from their open-topped release pens and hence encounter novel predators and move away from artificial food provision. Pheasants that leave such safe release sites and fail to learn new foraging locations or refuges from predators are likely to be highly susceptible. We asked whether survival was predicted by a pheasant's early life performance in psychometric tests of learning and reversal, controlling for other non-cognitive factors such as sex and mass. Given the ambiguous relationship previously reported between an individual's speed of acquisition and reversal [13,25–29], we tested how performances in these two tasks were related to each other in pheasants. We then explored two mechanisms by which any such relationships between cognition and fitness may be mediated by their movement and exploration. As pheasants moved further away from their point of release (in a protected and provisioned pen—see below), they would encounter higher densities of predators and lower densities of artificial food supplies, and hence face an increased risk of predation or starvation. First, we tested how an individual's exploratory behaviour in a series of assays under controlled conditions when five weeks old correlated with their cognitive ability. Second, we tested how early life cognitive performance related to adult ranging behaviour after release.
Women: Exposure to thin models deteriorated body image while increasing body dissatisfaction and anxiety; conversely, exposure to overweight models improved body image and decreased body dissatisfaction but it did not affect anxiety
Images of Thin and Plus-Size Models Produce Opposite Effects on Women’s Body Image, Body Dissatisfaction, and Anxiety. Silvia Moreno-Domínguez et al. Sex Roles, https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11199-018-0951-3
Abstract: Mainstream media’s promotion of dangerously thin female images likely lowers self-image satisfaction and contributes to pathological body concerns and disordered eating among women. We tested upward and downward social-comparison effects on self-evaluations by exposing 145 Spanish women to images of thin (upward) or overweight (downward) models. We also tested whether explicitly asking or not asking participants to compare themselves with the models would moderate social comparison effects. Exposure to thin models deteriorated body image while increasing body dissatisfaction and anxiety. Conversely, exposure to overweight models improved body image and decreased body dissatisfaction but it did not affect anxiety. Whether participants were asked to compare themselves to the models explicitly or implicitly had no effect on the participants’ responses. Furthermore, pre-existing body image concerns were not associated with the pre-to-post exposure effects. We propose that increasing the representation of normal weight and overweight women in media advertisements could help to neutralize or at least reduce the negative impact of media’s practice to idealize thin and overly thin women as symbols of female beauty.
Abstract: Mainstream media’s promotion of dangerously thin female images likely lowers self-image satisfaction and contributes to pathological body concerns and disordered eating among women. We tested upward and downward social-comparison effects on self-evaluations by exposing 145 Spanish women to images of thin (upward) or overweight (downward) models. We also tested whether explicitly asking or not asking participants to compare themselves with the models would moderate social comparison effects. Exposure to thin models deteriorated body image while increasing body dissatisfaction and anxiety. Conversely, exposure to overweight models improved body image and decreased body dissatisfaction but it did not affect anxiety. Whether participants were asked to compare themselves to the models explicitly or implicitly had no effect on the participants’ responses. Furthermore, pre-existing body image concerns were not associated with the pre-to-post exposure effects. We propose that increasing the representation of normal weight and overweight women in media advertisements could help to neutralize or at least reduce the negative impact of media’s practice to idealize thin and overly thin women as symbols of female beauty.
Sunday, August 12, 2018
Grooming helps animals remove dirt, parasites and other contaminants from skin and hair & may positively influence the animals’ affective state; cows spend about fivefold more time grooming compared with when brushes are not available
Emilie McConnachie, Anne Marieke C. Smid, Alexander J. Thompson, Daniel M. Weary, Marek A. Gaworski, Marina A. G. von Keyserlingk: Cows are highly motivated to access a grooming substrate, Biology Letters (2018). DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2018.0303
Abstract: In natural environments, cattle use trees and other abrasive surfaces to scratch and groom themselves. Modern indoor dairy cattle housing systems often lack appropriate grooming substrates, restricting the animals' ability to groom. We assessed the motivation of dairy cows to access an automated mechanical brush, a grooming resource that can be implemented in indoor cattle housing systems. Cows were trained to push a weighted gate to access either fresh feed (positive control), a mechanical brush or the same space without a brush (negative control). Weight on the gate was gradually increased until all cows failed to open it. The weight each cow was willing to push to access each resource was assessed using the Kaplan–Meier survival analysis. Despite differences in methodology used to obtain data on motivation to access feed and the brush, the outcomes were very similar; cows worked as hard for access to fresh feed and the brush (p = 0.94) and less hard for access to the empty space (compared with fresh feed: p < 0.01; brush: p < 0.02). These results indicate that cows are highly motivated to access a mechanical brush and that it is an important resource for cows.
Abstract: In natural environments, cattle use trees and other abrasive surfaces to scratch and groom themselves. Modern indoor dairy cattle housing systems often lack appropriate grooming substrates, restricting the animals' ability to groom. We assessed the motivation of dairy cows to access an automated mechanical brush, a grooming resource that can be implemented in indoor cattle housing systems. Cows were trained to push a weighted gate to access either fresh feed (positive control), a mechanical brush or the same space without a brush (negative control). Weight on the gate was gradually increased until all cows failed to open it. The weight each cow was willing to push to access each resource was assessed using the Kaplan–Meier survival analysis. Despite differences in methodology used to obtain data on motivation to access feed and the brush, the outcomes were very similar; cows worked as hard for access to fresh feed and the brush (p = 0.94) and less hard for access to the empty space (compared with fresh feed: p < 0.01; brush: p < 0.02). These results indicate that cows are highly motivated to access a mechanical brush and that it is an important resource for cows.
Social behavior in mouse models of autism spectrum disorder normalized when investigators triggered the release of a specific signaling substance, serotonin, in a single part of the animals' brains
5-HT release in nucleus accumbens rescues social deficits in mouse autism model. Jessica J. Walsh, Daniel J. Christoffel, Boris D. Heifets, Gabriel A. Ben-Dor, Aslihan Selimbeyoglu, Lin W. Hung, Karl Deisseroth & Robert C. Malenka. Nature (2018), https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-018-0416-4
Abstract: Dysfunction in prosocial interactions is a core symptom of autism spectrum disorder. However, the neural mechanisms that underlie sociability are poorly understood, limiting the rational development of therapies to treat social deficits. Here we show in mice that bidirectional modulation of the release of serotonin (5-HT) from dorsal raphe neurons in the nucleus accumbens bidirectionally modifies sociability. In a mouse model of a common genetic cause of autism spectrum disorder—a copy number variation on chromosome 16p11.2—genetic deletion of the syntenic region from 5-HT neurons induces deficits in social behaviour and decreases dorsal raphe 5-HT neuronal activity. These sociability deficits can be rescued by optogenetic activation of dorsal raphe 5-HT neurons, an effect requiring and mimicked by activation of 5-HT1b receptors in the nucleus accumbens. These results demonstrate an unexpected role for 5-HT action in the nucleus accumbens in social behaviours, and suggest that targeting this mechanism may prove therapeutically beneficial.
Abstract: Dysfunction in prosocial interactions is a core symptom of autism spectrum disorder. However, the neural mechanisms that underlie sociability are poorly understood, limiting the rational development of therapies to treat social deficits. Here we show in mice that bidirectional modulation of the release of serotonin (5-HT) from dorsal raphe neurons in the nucleus accumbens bidirectionally modifies sociability. In a mouse model of a common genetic cause of autism spectrum disorder—a copy number variation on chromosome 16p11.2—genetic deletion of the syntenic region from 5-HT neurons induces deficits in social behaviour and decreases dorsal raphe 5-HT neuronal activity. These sociability deficits can be rescued by optogenetic activation of dorsal raphe 5-HT neurons, an effect requiring and mimicked by activation of 5-HT1b receptors in the nucleus accumbens. These results demonstrate an unexpected role for 5-HT action in the nucleus accumbens in social behaviours, and suggest that targeting this mechanism may prove therapeutically beneficial.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
