Plant avoidance behaviors in Shuar infants and toddlers (Amazonians in southeastern Ecuador)

Plant avoidance behaviors in Shuar infants and toddlers. Annie E. Wertz, Alejandro S. Erut, Andrew Marcus Smith, Claudia Elsner, H. Clark Barrett. Human Behavior and Evolution Society 31st annual meeting. Boston 2019. http://tiny.cc/aa1w6y

Abstract: Recent research shows that 8- to 18-month-old infants from the US and Germany are reluctant to touch plants and look more frequently toward adults before touching plants, a behavioral avoidance strategy that would mitigate plant dangers. Here we test Shuar infants and toddlers to examine whether infants growing up with substantial exposure to plants exhibit similar avoidance behaviors. The Shuar are an indigenous Amazonian society in southeastern Ecuador. Infants and toddlers (7- to 36month-olds; N=52) from four small rural Shuar villages were tested. The stimuli were real plants, artificial plants, feature-matched novel artifacts, familiar artifacts, and naturally occurring objects. An experimenter placed each stimulus object in front of the infant for 10 seconds; infants’ touch behavior and looking behavior were coded. The results showed that Shuar infants, like infants from the US and Germany, took longer to touch plants (real and artificial) compared to familiar artifacts and stones. However, unlike US and German infants, Shuar infants were as reluctant to touch novel artifacts as plants, and exhibited similar amounts of social looking across all object types. These results suggest informative similarities and differences between the Shuar and infants from the US and Germany.


Check also How Plants Shape the Mind. Annie E. Wertz. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, June 1 2019, https://www.bipartisanalliance.com/2019/06/the-adaptive-problems-humans-faced-with.html

And And The seeds of social learning: Infants exhibit more social looking for plants than other object types. Claudia E lsner, Annie E.Wertz. Cognition, Volume 183, February 2019, Pages 244-255. https://www.bipartisanalliance.com/2019/02/knowing-which-plants-are-beneficial-or.html

A meta-analysis of sex differences in human navigation skills: Children younger than 13 years showed much smaller effect sizes (d = .15) than older age groups

A meta-analysis of sex differences in human navigation skills. Alina Nazareth et al. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, July 3 2019. https://link.springer.com/article/10.3758/s13423-019-01633-6

Abstract: There are inconsistent reports regarding behavioral sex differences in the human navigation literature. This meta-analysis quantifies the overall magnitude of sex differences in large-scale navigation skills in a variety of paradigms and populations, and examines potential moderators, using 694 effect sizes from 266 studies and a multilevel analytic approach. Overall, male participants outperform female participants, with a small to medium effect size (d = 0.34 to 0.38). The type of task, the type of dependent variable and the testing environment significantly contribute to variability in effect sizes, although there are only a few situations in which differences are either nonexistent or very large. Pointing and recall tasks (and the deviation scores associated with them) show larger sex differences than distance estimation tasks or learning to criterion. Studies with children younger than 13 years showed much smaller effect sizes (d = .15) than older age groups. We discuss the implications of these findings for understanding sex differences in human spatial navigation and identify avenues for future navigation research.

Keywords: Meta-analysis Sex difference Navigation Spatial skills

Check also Phenotypic and genetic evidence for a unifactorial structure of spatial abilities. Kaili Rimfeld, Nicholas G. Shakeshaft, Margherita Malanchini, Maja Rodic, Saskia Selzam, Kerry Schofield, Philip S. Dale, Yulia Kovas, and Robert Plomin. PNAS March 7, 2017 114 (10) 2777-2782; https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1607883114

Interpretation of reports about crimes are affected by motivations to construct & protect our worldview; liberals attribute crimes more to religion for Christian rather than Muslim offenders; opposite effect for conservatives

Perpetrator Religion and Perceiver’s Political Ideology Affect Processing and Communication of Media Reports of Violence. Samia Habib, Levi Adelman, Bernhard Leidner, Shaheen Pasha, and Razvan Sibii. Social Psychology, July 1, 2019. https://doi.org/10.1027/1864-9335/a000385

Abstract: People’s interpretations of media reports about crimes may be biased by their motivations to construct and protect their worldviews and, relatedly, by criminals’ group membership. Two large-scale experiments (Ns = 248 and 1,115) investigated how American adults interpret reports of crimes committed by either a Christian or Muslim, and how these interpretations depend on political ideology. Results show liberals attributing crimes more to religion for Christian rather than Muslim offenders, with the opposite effect for conservatives. Importantly, these biases also influenced how people communicated the news report to others. Additionally, evidence suggests that attitudes toward Islam and not toward Muslims may explain these effects. Implications for how political ideology affects interpretation and communication of media portrayals of Muslims are discussed.

Keywords: media, political ideology, motivated reasoning, religion

Having a second child, which is common in Switzerland, correlates negatively with mothers’ life satisfaction; the mothers’ life satisfaction trajectories reflect work–family conflict

The Parenthood and Happiness Link: Testing Predictions from Five Theories. Małgorzata Mikucka, Ester Rizzi. European Journal of Population, July 3 2019. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10680-019-09532-1

Abstract: This research studied the relationship between parenthood and life satisfaction in Switzerland. We tested predictions derived from set-point theory, the economic model of parenthood, the approaches that underscore work–family conflict and the psychological rewards from parenthood, and the ‘taste for children’ theory. We used Swiss Household Panel data (2000–2018) to analyse how life satisfaction changed during parenthood (fixed-effects regression) separately for a first child and a second child, mothers and fathers, and various socio-demographic groups. Our results showed that having a second child, which is common in Switzerland, correlates negatively with mothers’ life satisfaction. The observed patterns are consistent with the idea that mothers’ life satisfaction trajectories reflect work–family conflict. We found partial support for the set-point and the ‘taste for children’ theories. Our results did not support the approaches that emphasize the importance of psychological rewards from parenthood.

Keywords: Parenthood Fertility Life satisfaction Fixed-effects analysis Set-point theory Work–family conflict Costs of parenthood Taste for children

The online version of this article ( https://doi.org/10.1007/s10680-019-09532-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

It can be suggested that standard hardcore pornography on the whole is not currently harmful, but there are not many benefits associated with it; & when taken to excess there may be problems that arise

Development and implications of pornography use: a narrative review. James Binnie & Paula Reavey. Sexual and Relationship Therapy, Jul 3 2019. https://doi.org/10.1080/14681994.2019.1635250

Abstract: Pornography use is widespread and as such may have potential effects on the individuals that view it and on society itself. The question of whether pornography is harmful warrants investigation. A non-systematic narrative review of research literature pertaining to pornography was undertaken. Taking a historical and social perspective on pornography, the developments and implications of pornography use are critically analysed. How much pornography is currently used, who uses it and why is presented. The potential effects of pornography on the individual and on society are also described. From reviewing the literature, it can be suggested that standard hardcore pornography on the whole is not currently harmful, however, there are not many benefits associated with it. Research suggests that pornography is not harmful for the individual, however, like any substance or behaviour when taken to excess there may be problems that arise; a subsequent paper focuses on this important and under researched phenomena.

Keywords: Pornography use, narrative review, prevalence, harmfulness

Gender effects and cooperation in collective action: Mixed-sex groups were the most effective in cooperation, although cooperation level varied significantly; men demonstrated a higher level of trust and gratitude than women

Gender effects and cooperation in collective action: A laboratory experiment. Anastasia Peshkovskaya, Tatiana Babkina, Mikhail Myagkov. Rationality and Society, July 3, 2019. https://doi.org/10.1177/1043463119858788

Abstract: Numerous researches have indicated that men’s and women’s cooperation varied from no differences to significant differences under the influence of different contextual characteristics. In this study, we investigated how social factors together with a gender composition of a group affected gender differences in cooperation. We found that mixed-sex groups were the most effective in cooperation. At the same time, cooperation level in same-sex groups varied significantly. Besides, in same-sex groups, men demonstrated a higher level of trust and gratitude than women. Among women, in same-sex groups, a tendency toward mutual distrust and competition was revealed more often than among men.

Keywords: Behavior, cooperation, gender, group, group composition, mixed, prisoner’s dilemma, same-sex, social dilemma, trust

The fusiform face area (FFA) responds to visual expertise; neuropsychological data says not only to process faces, it also contributes to non-face expertise recognition (cars, birds, radiographs)

P-curving the Fusiform Face Area: Meta-Analyses Support the Expertise Hypothesis. Edwin J. Burns, Taylor Arnold, Cindy M. Bukach. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, July 2 2019. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2019.07.003

Highlights
•    Meta-analyses show the fusiform face area (FFA) responds to visual expertise
•    These effects are not due to publication bias or p-hacking
•    The failed replications do not negate the evidence supporting the expertise account
•    Neuropsychological data confirms the FFA contributes to non-face expertise recognition

Abstract: Psychologists have debated whether the right fusiform face area’s (FFA) responses are domain specific to faces, or domain general for certain object categories that we have visual expertise with. This latter domain general expertise account has been criticised for basing its assumptions upon studies that suffer from small participant numbers, small effects, and statistically significant p-values that are close to .05. An additional criticism is that these findings are difficult to replicate. A modern reader familiar with the replication crisis may therefore question whether the FFA’s expertise effect is real. The p-curve is a relatively new form of meta-analysis that enables researchers to identify whether there is evidential value for any given effect in the literature. We put the literature to the test by running p-curve analyses on all published expertise studies. Contrary to aforementioned criticisms, our meta-analyses confirm the right FFA’s expertise effect is based upon evidential value. We therefore review the broader literature to address additional criticisms of the expertise account and propose ways to improve replicability.

Trigger warnings had no significant effect on changes to affect or learning but did significantly increase perceptions of warnings as necessary (not for oneself, obviously, but for the others)

Boysen, G. A., Isaacs, R. A., Tretter, L., & Markowski, S. (2019). Trigger warning efficacy: The impact of warnings on affect, attitudes, and learning. Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in Psychology, http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/stl0000150

Abstract: The purpose of trigger warnings is to prevent distress by giving prior notice about sensitive topics, but there is little empirical evidence to support their effectiveness in psychology education. The current research examined the effects of trigger warnings on affect, learning, and attitudes. Study 1 (N = 353) presented an online sample of adults with a video lecture about sexual assault, and participants reported their positive and negative affect before and after the video. They also took a test on the content and reported their attitudes about the necessity of warnings. Learning about sexual assault led to significant changes in affect for participants with and without personal experience related to the topic. Trigger warnings had no significant impact on changes in affect or test scores. However, participants who received a trigger warning had significantly increased belief that warnings are necessary for the topic of sexual assault. Study 2 (N = 412) replicated Study 1 using the topic of suicide. Trigger warnings had no significant effect on changes to affect or test scores but did significantly increase perceptions of warnings as necessary. Study 3 examined a sample of college students (N = 105) learning about sexual assault, and it also showed no significant effect of trigger warnings on changes to affect or test scores but a significant effect on belief that warnings are necessary. Overall, trigger warnings appear to have little impact on affect or learning, but they do increase people’s belief that warnings are necessary for sensitive topics.

Factors of social partners' selection: who helps/harms others (signal of how someone may act towards ourselves) & who acts like/unlike others (capacity for coordination)

The selection of social partners based on the moral actions of the group vs. the individual. Brandon M. Woo, Jason Paul Mitchell. Human Behavior and Evolution Society 31st annual meeting. Boston 2019. http://tiny.cc/aa1w6y

Abstract: The ability to select appropriate social partners enables the human species to better navigate the social world. Research has demonstrated that at least two factors influence the selection of social partners, even as early as infancy: (i) who helps vs. harms others (Hamlin et al., 2007), as a signal of how someone may act towards ourselves; and (ii) who acts like vs. unlike others (Powell & Spelke, 2018), as a signal of someone’s capacity for coordinated action. Although people have studied these two factors, they have done so independently. It is unknown whether these two factors interact. At times, they may even come into conflict. In the present study, we presented 128 participants with agents who help others, harm others, or do a non-moral action after the agents’ friends either have done the same thing, have done a different thing, or have not done anything. Participants rated people who acted like vs. unlike their friends as a better potential friend: (i) when the friends did a non-moral action; and (ii) even more strongly when the friends helped others. When the friends harmed others, however, participants rated people who acted like vs. unlike their friends as a worse potential friend.

Nuclear Twin Family analysis: Political orientation is often assumed to be shaped by socialization processes, but previous studies have shown substantial genetic variance components in party affiliation, political attitudes & behaviors

Hufer, A., Kornadt, A. E., Kandler, C., & Riemann, R. (2019). Genetic and environmental variation in political orientation in adolescence and early adulthood: A Nuclear Twin Family analysis. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/pspp0000258

Abstract: Political orientation is often assumed to be shaped by socialization processes; however, previous studies have shown substantial genetic variance components in party affiliation, political attitudes and behaviors, or closely related personality traits. The majority of these studies have relied on the Classical Twin Design, which comes with restrictive assumptions, some of which are easily violated. Moreover, most analyses lack a perspective of age-group differences. In this study, we investigated political orientation in adolescents (age: 16–18) and young adults (age: 21–25) in a cross-sectional Nuclear Twin Family Design. We used data of the German TwinLife project, including data from same-sex twins reared together, their biological parents, and nontwin full siblings. We found genetic variation in political orientation, which was significant in the older cohort, possibly indicating an increasing importance of active gene-environment correlation from adolescence to adulthood. Individual differences in political orientation because of passive gene-environment correlation and shared environmental effects were larger in the younger cohort, substantiating the same theoretical consideration and the importance of shared socialization contexts for adolescents’ political views. By running Nuclear Twin Family model analyses, and considering age-group differences, as well as the relationship of political orientation with the Big Five personality traits, our study extended previous work, and resulted in more robust and fine-grained estimates of genetic and environmental sources of variance in political orientation. Therefore, it contributed to a better understanding of the complex nature–nurture interplay that forms political orientation in emerging adulthood.

Direct evidence for transport of RNA from the mouse brain to the germline and offspring?

Direct evidence for transport of RNA from the mouse brain to the germline and offspring. Elizabeth A. O’Brien, Kathleen S. Ensbey, Bryan W. Day, Paul A. Baldock, Guy Barry. bioRxiv, June 28, 2019. https://doi.org/10.1101/686634

Abstract: The traditional concept that heritability occurs exclusively from the transfer of germline-restricted genetics is being challenged by the increasing accumulation of evidence confirming the existence of experience-dependent transgenerational inheritance. Transgenerational inheritance is emerging as a powerful mechanism for robustly transmitting phenotypic adaptations to offspring. However, questions remain unanswered as to how this heritable information is passed from somatic cells. Previous studies have implicated the critical involvement of RNA in heritable transgenerational effects and the high degree of mobility and genomic impact of RNAs in all organisms is an attractive model for the efficient transfer of genetic information. Here we show, for the first time, robust transport of RNA from the brain of an adult male mouse to sperm, and subsequently to offspring. Our observation of heritable genetic information originating from a somatic tissue may reveal a mechanism for how transgenerational effects are transmitted to offspring.

Traditional postpartum care: Alloparenting has been considered as an important factor in raising children; additional help can enhance further reproductive opportunity of new mother & her key role on enhancing the fitness of the newborn

Traditional postpartum care: Alloparenting from an evolutionary perspective. Sangkwon Woo, Mark V. Flinn, Robert S. Walker. Human Behavior and Evolution Society 31st annual meeting. Boston 2019. http://tiny.cc/aa1w6y

Abtract: Variation of traditional postpartum care practices vary across different regions. Paternal and alloparental support, however, are common components in human cultures. Whereas many ethnographic studies have accumulated information on cultural variation during antepartum/postpartum period, such as food taboo and couvade, systematically comparative data sets have not been broadly considered on these cultural traits, mainly due to the limited comparability of diverse variables. Alloparental care has long been considered as an important factor in raising children, but it is also essential in that additional help can enhance further reproductive opportunity of new mother and her key role on enhancing the fitness of the newborn. Here we examine how traditional care practices might have helped the health of mothers and infants. Traditional care practices in East/Southeast Asian population and indigenous populations in American continents involve not only intensive treatment and isolation but also strong cold-avoidance, or ‘hot-cold theory’ based care. We collected information on temperature management after childbirth during postpartum care practice and utilized the Standard Cross-Cultural Sample (SCCS), a globally representative data of human populations. Using a phylogenetic supertree including the SCCS, the cultural evolutionary processes on the postpartum care are examined to indicate the association between genetic/linguistic phylogeny and vertical/horizontal transmission of cultural traits.

‘I Do Not Exist’: Pathologies of Self Among Western Buddhists

‘I Do Not Exist’: Pathologies of Self Among Western Buddhists. Judith Pickering. Journal of Religion and Health, June 2019, Volume 58, Issue 3, pp 748–769. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs10943-019-00794-x

Abstract: This paper presents a clinical case involving a patient suffering ‘depersonalisation’ who had a psychotic episode at a Buddhist retreat. Recent writing on possible psychological risks of meditation has discussed problems of depersonalisation associated with misunderstandings of the Buddhist conception of non-self (anātman) and emptiness (śūnyatā). Drawing on the work of Winnicott and Bion, this article helps us to realise some of what is at stake in the failure to achieve and maintain an effective sense of self. What does Buddhist talk of non-self really mean? What conditions enable a creatively engaged and meaningful relational life, a sense of aliveness, human flourishing and a capacity for alterity?

Keywords: Depersonalisation Derealisation Non-self (anātman) Emptiness (śūnyatā) Self Alterity Nihilism Jung Bion Lévinas Winnicott

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‘Eve’

Eve 1 arrives for her first session. I hear the gate open, close, then silence. I go to open the door in welcome, but intuitively hold back. There is a tentative knock so quiet that I would not have heard it if I wasn’t already waiting by the door. I open it. Eyes downcast, she says very diffidently, ‘well, … here I am’. Once inside she sits on the edge of the couch. Like a marionette puppet with no puppet master to hold her up, she crumples into the cushions. Her face has a haunted, hollowed out look, covering profound anguish. Over the course of our analytic journey, her opening phrase ‘well, … here I am’ becomes something of a mantra, transmitting as yet unrealised potential. Like the ‘initial dream’ which encapsulates the patient’s psychological predicament, this simple phrase says it all. When she first came to see me, Eve was not ‘well’. She had not been psychologically ‘born’, so she was not yet ‘here’ on earth. She felt that she was no more than an amoeba-like semblance of pre-life with no form, no substance, no past, no future, no sense of on-going being. She was skinless and porous—the emotional states of others passed through her like the tides of an ocean. She was not ‘here’. There was no ‘I am’, no ‘I and thou’, no ‘we’, let alone any sense of being alive, real, interconnected with the world of others, let alone creativity, a sense of meaning, direction, or joie de vivre.

When, as a young adult, Eve found her way to a Tibetan Buddhist retreat, she initially felt great relief. Here was a philosophy that made sense of her states of non-being. Yet, due to excessive application of ascetic and meditative practices, Eve had a psychotic episode and was hospitalised. On discharge, she was advised to seek on-going psychological treatment. She sought me out as a Jungian because Jung, unlike Freud, did not dismiss spirituality.

Check also Potential negative consequences of mindfulness in the moral domain. Simon Schindler, Stefan Pfattheicher, Marc-Andre Reinhard. To appear in the European Journal of Social Psychology, January 2019, https://www.bipartisanalliance.com/2019/01/other-consequences-of-mindfulness-in.html

Return the favour: Preverbal infants represent direct reciprocity

Return the favour: Preverbal infants represent direct reciprocity. Joakim Haugane Zahl, Erik Kjos Fonn, Oda Eidjar, Lotte Thomsen. Human Behavior and Evolution Society 31st annual meeting. Boston 2019. http://tiny.cc/aa1w6y

Abstract> If direct reciprocity sustains selective altruism and cooperation among non-kin (Trivers, 1971), early-developing representations of reciprocity might evolve to facilitate the navigation of such social relations. Here, we show that preverbal infants represent direct reciprocity. We familiarized 32 7-12 month-old infants to a scenario with three novel agents where the benefactor gave one of his two apples to the beneficiary who had none (the third agent simply had one apple). In test trials the former beneficiary now had two apples, while both other agents had none. In Expected trials it  reciprocated by giving its surplus apple to its former benefactor, in Unexpected trials it instead gave it to the third agent. We found that nine-to-twelve month-olds looked longer at unexpected than expected trials (M_unexpected=27,8 seconds; M_expected=21,5; p<.0005, BF10>550), indicating that they expected agents to act reciprocally, but 7-8 month-olds did not. A second study demonstrated that reciprocity is generalized across resources (receiving an apple and returning a banana). Two control studies demonstrated that these effects are specific to resource distributions among self-propelled, intentional agents and not accounted for by low-level mechanisms of mere association.

Pseudo-opinions (commenting on fictitious questions, even though they should not really have an opinion): Up to 69% of the respondents give a substantive opinion on the fictitious questionnaires; the better educated sin more.

Wolter F., Junkermann J. (2019) Antwortvalidität in Survey-Interviews: Meinungsäußerungen zu fiktiven Dingen (=approx. Response validity in survey interviews: expressions of opinion on fictitious things). In: Menold N., Wolbring T. (eds) Qualitätssicherung sozialwissenschaftlicher Erhebungsinstrumente. Schriftenreihe der ASI - Arbeitsgemeinschaft Sozialwissenschaftlicher Institute. Springer VS, Wiesbaden. December 30 2018 DOI https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-24517-7_11

Abstract (automatic translation): The article examines the extent and factors influencing the expression of pseudo-Opinions. By this is meant the often documented phenomenon, according to which respondents also comment on fictitious, fictitious questions, even though they should not really have an opinion. The relevance arises on the one hand from the assumption that some respondents do not know real existing question objects, but still express an opinion. The results of such surveys would be distorted. On the other hand, the study of pseudo-Opinions allows to study the process of socially desirable responses with respect to the extent and determinants of a response bias. In addition to sociodemographic influencing factors and measures for incentives through social desirability, in particular the response reaction time as a proxy for the degree of cognitive elaboration is examined for its influence. This is done on the basis of theoretical considerations on respondent behavior, i.a. from the frame selection theory. In the CATI study (N = 499) conducted in Mainz, respondents were asked three fictitious sights in Mainz. It turns out that the amount of response bias through pseudo-Opinions is considerable; Up to 69% of the respondents give a substantive opinion on the fictitious questionnaires. In addition, the propensity to distorting responses varies according to simple socio-demographic characteristics such as age, gender, and education. An effect of the response response time can only be determined for one of the items. Here the latency acts negatively, i. Thinking longer when answering the question leads to fewer pseudo-opinions and thus less distorted data.