It was alleged that neuroscience evidence bring bias because of its over-persuasiveness for people without neuroscience training; but in severe criminal cases, neuroscientific evidence is not more persuasive than behavioral one

Yin, Ji-Xing, Yuepei Xu, and Chuan-Peng Hu. 2020. “Neuroscience Evidence Is Not More Persuasive Than Behavioral Evidence for Both Adults and Juveniles: A Preregistered Study.” PsyArXiv. July 8. doi:10.31234/osf.io/bqprd

Abstract: In last two decades, developmental neuroscience results had been cited in high-profile legal cases in the United States and other countries. However, it’s unknown whether neuroscience evidence bring bias because of its over-persuasiveness for people without training in neuroscience. Previous studies suggested that neuroscience results were over-persuasive, this effect was termed as “neuroscience bias,” but the evidence was not conclusive because of failed replication attempts. Moreover, few studies directly examined the effect developmental neuroscience in juvenile cases. To address this issue, we conducted two mock jury studies with a three (evidence type: behavioral evidence, neuroscience evidence without brain images, and neuroscience evidence with brain images) by two (offenders’ age: juvenile vs. adult) between-subject design. In a pilot study (n = 94) and pre-registered study (n = 324), participants first read a vignette, which described an offender murdered a victim and his lawyer introduced scientific evidence when defending for the offender. Participants were required to make a series of judgments, including death penalty and criminal responsibility of defendant. The results revealed a main effect for offenders’ age, but no effect for evidence type or interaction between evidence type and offenders’ age. An exploratory conditional random forest analysis again revealed that evidence type was not important in predicting participants’ judgment. Instead, other self-reported variables are more important, such as the “just deserts” view of criminal punishment and the perceived possibility the offender would re-enter society. These results suggest that, in the severe criminal cases, the neuroscientific evidence is not more persuasive than behavioral evidence, regardless the neuroscientific results are from adults or juveniles.

Noninvasive acoustic manipulation of objects in a living pigs using a phased array: These beams were shown to levitate & steer solid objects (3-mm-diameter glass spheres) along preprogrammed paths

Noninvasive acoustic manipulation of objects in a living body. Mohamed A. Ghanem, Adam D. Maxwell, Yak-Nam Wang, Bryan W. Cunitz, Vera A. Khokhlova, Oleg A. Sapozhnikov, and  View ORCID ProfileMichael R. Bailey. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, July 6, 2020. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2001779117

Significance: The significance of this work is the development of a technique and technology to use a steerable beam from one source to safely lift and reposition a stone in a living body. The work has direct application to expelling kidney stones or manipulating an ingestible camera. Our work provides a framework for other medical applications, as well as nonmedical uses that require noninvasively moving sizable, dense objects in a free field or within a container.

Abstract: In certain medical applications, transmitting an ultrasound beam through the skin to manipulate a solid object within the human body would be beneficial. Such applications include, for example, controlling an ingestible camera or expelling a kidney stone. In this paper, ultrasound beams of specific shapes were designed by numerical modeling and produced using a phased array. These beams were shown to levitate and electronically steer solid objects (3-mm-diameter glass spheres), along preprogrammed paths, in a water bath, and in the urinary bladders of live pigs. Deviation from the intended path was on average <10%. No injury was found on the bladder wall or intervening tissue.

Keywords: acoustic tweezersacoustic radiation forcekidney stones

Why chimpanzees carry dead infants: an empirical assessment of existing hypotheses

Why chimpanzees carry dead infants: an empirical assessment of existing hypotheses. Elizabeth V. Lonsdorf, Michael L. Wilson, Emily Boehm, Josephine Delaney-Soesman, Tessa Grebey, Carson Murray, Kaitlin Wellens and Anne E. Pusey. Royal Society Open Science, July 1 2020. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.200931

Abstract: The study of non-human primate thanatology has expanded dramatically in recent years as scientists seek to understand the evolutionary roots of human death concepts and practices. However, observations of how conspecifics respond to dead individuals are rare and highly variable. Mothers of several species of primate have been reported to carry and continue to interact with dead infants. Such interactions have been proposed to be related to maternal condition, attachment, environmental conditions or reflect a lack of awareness that the infant has died. Here, we tested these hypotheses using a dataset of cases of infant corpse carrying by chimpanzees in Gombe National Park, Tanzania (n = 33), the largest dataset of such cases in chimpanzees. We found that mothers carried infant corpses at high rates, despite behavioural evidence that they recognize that death has occurred. Median duration of carriage was 1.83 days (interquartile range = 1.03–3.59). Using an information theoretic approach, we found no support for any of the leading hypotheses for duration of continued carriage. We interpret these data in the context of recent discussions regarding what non-human primates understand about death.

4. Discussion

In this contribution, we presented the largest systematic and quantitative study of variation in infant corpse carrying in wild chimpanzees. We found that chimpanzees carry infant corpses at high rates, despite behavioural evidence that they recognize that death has occurred. Moreover, none of the variables we examined to test existing hypotheses for the duration of ICC were significant.

Recent discussions surrounding the phenomenon of infant corpse carrying have recommended reporting the rate of corpse carrying [18] and what factors contribute to variability in rates [16]. We found that in every recorded case in which a mother was able to access her infant's body, she carried it. The only exceptions to this pattern were when the infant was killed by infanticide and the mother never regained access, and when an infant corpse was recovered in the field and the mother was not seen (with or without the corpse) in the interim. It is possible that the disappearances represented cases in which infants were not carried, but given that we cannot see every chimpanzee every day, it is also possible that they were all carried. Even if we assume that all of the 41 individuals that disappeared were not carried, and include the two cases in which corpses were recovered without ever being seen with their mother, the carrying rate would be 50/93 or 54%. What is clear is that rate of carrying we report here, between 54% and 100%, is substantially higher than that reported in Japanese macaques in which 15% of all corpses are carried and 28.7% of very young infants (less than or equal to 30 days old) are carried [18]. However, complete information regarding what happened to macaque infants that were not carried (i.e. whether corpses were observed but abandoned immediately or whether the infant simply disappeared/was subject to predation, etc.) was not reported. Such information would allow us to more fully understand the differences in carrying rates we report here. Comparable rate data are not yet available for other primate populations, and should be a focus of ongoing data collection.

We documented 33 cases of dead infant carrying, ranging in length from 30 min to over 15 days. On average, infant corpses were carried for a little over 3 days, and only two were seen to be carried over 10 days. Both of these carriers resumed cycling and mating while still carrying the corpse. In 24% of instances, the primary carrier was a non-mother but there was no difference in the duration of carriage between mothers and non-mothers. Interestingly, one of the relatively prolonged cases was performed by a non-mother who abducted a live infant and then carried it after it died. The mean carrying duration we found for Gombe was shorter than previously reported for wild chimpanzees. A recent meta-analysis of cases in anthropoid primates [17] reported a mean duration for chimpanzees of 32.94 days, as well as the largest within-species variance among the other species examined, from 2 to 114 days. These authors included only chimpanzee cases extracted from previously published reports (n = 9), so it is possible that the published literature is biased towards extremely long cases. However, a compilation of 14 cases from Mahale [27] also reports a larger range of durations, from 30 min to approximately 126 days. An interesting possibility is that there may be site-specific cultural differences in responses to death [2,21] as there are with several other behaviours [51]. Alternatively, differences in ranging patterns may affect duration of carriage such that larger day ranges constrain duration of carriage, as suggested by Carter et al. [52] for chacma baboons (Papio ursinus).

Several proximate explanations have been put forth to explain either the likelihood or duration of ICC. We examined infant age at death to test the post-parturient condition hypothesis and the maternal-bond strength hypothesis, but none of our candidate models that contained infant age at death provided a better fit to our data than the null model (table 3). Moreover, we documented several instances of carrying by non-mothers as well as two cases of prolonged carrying in which the carriers resumed cycling and mating while still carrying the corpse (as also seen in geladas [23]). The only notable age-related pattern we found was that no infants over 3 years of age were observed being carried. However, there were only nine individuals between the ages of 3 and 5 years of age in the full dataset, five of which disappeared (see electronic supplementary material, table S2). Of the remaining four, one was orphaned, one was killed by chimpanzees, one was killed by humans, and one died of illness. Thus, only the infant that died of illness could have been carried, but there were 6 days between sightings of this mother with and without the infant, so carrying cannot be determined. One possibility is that at 3 years of age, which is when most offspring cease riding on their mothers [50], corpses are simply too heavy and/or awkward to be carried for lengthy periods of time. A similar age effect was reported in Japanese macaques, in which carrying rates increased with age up until 30 days, but then decreased [18]. In sum, the small number of deaths above age three and the uncertainty around them prevent determination of whether there is an upper age limit for an infant to be carried, but the combined evidence does not support the post-parturient condition hypothesis of infant carrying. Bond strength probably plays a role in who carries a corpse given that mothers, adoptive mothers and siblings exhibited the most carrying (table 4), but it does not appear to predict duration of carriage in a consistent way.

The slow decomposition hypothesis [23] posits that prolonged infant carrying is facilitated by dry climates and/or in the dry parts of the year. According to our model comparison, the model including season was the second-highest-weighted model (table 3), although this model performed no better than the null model. In fact, while our two longest cases (table 2) occurred during the dry season, carrying duration tended to be longer in the wet season (though this parameter estimate included 0 in the 95% CI). Cases of prolonged carrying at Bossou occurred during the dry season [21], but prolonged carries in Mahale happened throughout the year [27]. In sum, we found no clear support for the hypothesis that carrying duration varied according to within-site environmental conditions.

The unawareness of death hypothesis concerns what mothers may or may not understand about death [24,25]. One prediction arising from this hypothesis is that younger and/or first-time mothers carry dead infants for longer in order to gather more information and be certain the infant is dead. None of our candidate models that included either firstborn status or mother's age at death performed significantly better than the null model. In fact, aside from one outlier (APb1), mothers tended to carry firstborn offspring for shorter durations than later born offspring (though this parameter estimate included 0 in the 95% CI). Given that we only have nine firstborn offspring in the dataset of observed corpses, more cases are needed to confirm this pattern. In the above-mentioned anthropoid primate meta-analysis [17], younger females exhibited shorter durations of carrying (regardless of firstborn status) in contrast to prediction. However, because datasets from across 18 different species were combined, mother's age was partitioned into two categories, younger versus older (according to median life span for the species). That difference in methodology, coupled with the smaller sample of nine chimpanzees in that study, may account for our different findings. These authors also found that infants that died of sickness or were stillborn were carried for longer than those that died of infanticide or unnatural causes (such as electrocution) and suggested that more violent/obvious causes of death resulted in faster detection of death and abandonment of corpses. By contrast, we found that candidate models including cause of death provided no better fit than the null model.

Our examination of the specific types of behaviour directed at the corpse suggests that mothers/primary carriers rapidly recognized a change of state in the infant, given that atypical carrying postures were exhibited soon after death. In fact, these postures more closely resembled those used for objects than live infants [53,54] and would be uncomfortable or harmful for a live infant, suggesting that mothers persisted in infant corpse carrying for hours or days after recognizing a change in state. There are also multiple sensory death cues: failure to respond to tactile stimulation, olfactory cues of putrefaction, and the presence of flies. While we do not have consistent quantitative measures of distance for our cases, observers often described a process in which the mother gradually increased her distance from the corpse, as was reported in [29]. As the post-mortem period progressed, siblings and others were permitted to interact with the corpse in a manner similar to object play, or roughly handle the corpse. In very rare cases, mothers exhibited rough handling or ate parts of the corpse themselves. These qualitative reports and our model comparison results do not support the unawareness of death hypothesis.

With regards to the broader question of whether there is evidence of a human-like death concept in chimpanzees, our data provide additional evidence that chimpanzees understand at least two of the four subcomponents reviewed in [2]: non-functionality, given the changes in behaviour described above, and irreversibility, given the eventual abandonment of the corpse. Whether or not chimpanzees understand death as universal is not possible to examine with our data, and indeed, is difficult to explore without a common language. The causality component is the last to be acquired by human children and its importance is debated given its reliance on knowledge of biological processes that have only come about through modern science and medicine (A Gonçalves 2019, personal communication). Das et al. [17] argued that anthropoid primates comprehend causality, because infants that died of unnatural and externally observable causes were carried for shorter periods than those that died of natural causes. However, we did not find that cause of death explained the variation in duration of infant carrying in our larger, single-species sample.

Evaluating our findings according to the three-level model of death awareness proposed by Gonçalves & Carvahlo [3], our data provide support for the first two and suggest that chimpanzees quickly distinguish between animate and inanimate and also integrate sensory and contextual cues to discriminate between living and dead. The third level of death awareness encompasses the four subcomponents of a human-like death concept described above, and we have provided additional evidence in accordance with [2] for chimpanzees' understanding of non-functionality and irreversibility. Evidence for the subcomponents of universality and causality will probably need to come from rigorous and ethical cognitive experiments conducted in captive settings [19].

Given that we found no evidence for the main existing hypotheses for ICC, the question remains as to why chimpanzee mothers, if they have distinguished between alive and dead, continue to carry their infant corpses for multiple days after death and often exhibit caretaking behaviours such as grooming. This behaviour could be interpreted as lack of awareness that death has occurred, but the behavioural changes we described above suggest otherwise. An intriguing possibility is that infant corpse carrying represents a primate analogue of human grief [17,55]. However, grief has been difficult to systematically define and operationalize; even in humans, grief is recognized as a ‘highly individualized and dynamic process’ [56, p. 119]. Evidence in non-verbal animals must come from behaviour, and an increasing number of species have been reported to exhibit behaviours similar to humans. These include prolonged association with the corpse [8,57–59], decreased appetite [12,17,57,60], and social isolation and/or avoidance [17,22,57]. How non-human animal emotions are defined, measured and whether they differ in degree or kind from human emotions is an active area of scientific debate (see [61,62]). Responses to death may be a particularly fruitful area of focus for the study of primate emotions.

Much work remains to be done to achieve a more complete understanding of non-human animal responses to death. We echo the calls of our colleagues [3,16] for more detailed descriptions of cases using standardized terminology and variables, and collection of physiological data such as stress metabolites. Detailed analyses of changes in maternal activities budgets, such as reduced feeding and socializing, as well as others' consolation behaviours towards mothers, will help to provide a more complete picture of a species' understanding of death. These data are extraordinarily difficult to collect and accumulate given the rarity of observed deaths in the wild, which highlights the importance of long-term studies for understanding of the complexity of animal behaviour. While many questions remain, observations reported here and elsewhere challenge Heidegger's [1] assertion that ‘Animals cannot do this'.

Rolf Degen summarizes: Psychopaths have more social ties to others who have no contact with each other, which may give them greater potential to manipulate

Are Psychopathic Traits Associated with Core Social Networks? An Exploratory Study in University Students. Kylie S. Reale et al. Social Psychology Quarterly, July 7, 2020. https://doi.org/10.1177/0190272520902105

Abstract: In a sample of 480 university students, we examined associations between self-ratings of psychopathic traits, made using the Comprehensive Assessment of Psychopathic Personality (CAPP), the Psychopathic Personality Inventory: Short Form (PPI: SF), and self-ratings of the structure of their core social networks (i.e., best friends, intimates). Results indicated that higher self-ratings of domains (CAPP) and subscales (PPI: SF) related to interpersonal dominance, manipulation, poor attachment, and emotional regulation were associated with less connected core networks. We interpret the dominance and manipulation domain and subscale findings as preliminary evidence of a deliberate strategy to provide a more influential position within one’s social network. As for the associations with the attachment and emotional regulation domain and subscale findings, we suggest this could be reflective of deficits or a lack of desire both in establishing and maintaining long-term relationships.

Keywords: CAPP, interpersonal relationships, PPI, SNA, social networks

Intranasal Oxytocin (InOT): Tested interactive InOT effects were highly heterogeneous; for most published interactions, no replication was attempted; when attempted, replications were largely unsuccessful

How Can Intranasal Oxytocin Research Be Trusted? A Systematic Review of the Interactive Effects of Intranasal Oxytocin on Psychosocial Outcomes. A. Mierop et al. Perspectives on Psychological Science, July 7, 2020. https://doi.org/10.1177/1745691620921525

Abstract: Over the past two decades, research about the role of oxytocin (OT) in human behavior has grown exponentially. However, a unified theory of OT effects has yet to be developed. Relatedly, growing concerns about the robustness of conclusions drawn in the field have been raised. The current article contributes to this debate by reporting on and discussing key conclusions from a systematic review of published studies addressing the interactive effects of intranasal OT (IN-OT) administration on psychosocial outcomes in a healthy population. The review indicates that (a) tested interactive IN-OT effects were highly heterogeneous; (b) for most published interactions, no replication was attempted; (c) when attempted, replications were largely unsuccessful; (d) significance was unrelated to sample size; (e) statistical power was critically low and unrelated to the rate of significant results; and (f) research practices were characteristic of an exploratory approach. This concerning state of affairs makes it virtually impossible to tease apart true from false interactive IN-OT effects. We provide constructive directions on the basis of this observation and positive predictive value simulations for future research that should help extract true effects from noise and move the IN-OT field forward.

Keywords: neuroendocrinology, oxytocin, social cognition, positive predictive value

Neither the dark triad nor general intelligence are meaningfully related to lying ability

The ability to lie and its relations to the dark triad and general intelligence. Moritz Michels, Günter Molz, Frederic Maas. Personality and Individual Differences, Volume 166, 1 November 2020, 110195. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2020.110195

Abstract: The dark triad of personality (D3) – psychopathy, machiavellianism, and narcissism – is commonly conceived to be related to manipulative and deceptive abilities and is often regarded as an exploitative behavioral strategy. Some authors argue that the effectiveness of this strategy is moderated by other variables, e.g. intelligence. In our study participants prepared three short stories about personal incidences: Two had to be true and one had to be non-factual. The subjects told their stories in a laboratory setting while being videotaped. The SRP-4, the MACH VI and the NARQ were used to measure the dark triad. General intelligence was assessed with the WAIS-IV. Subsequently, raters judged which of the three stories was the non-factual one. In conclusion, participants' lying ability was operationalized by the number of raters not succeeding to identify the non-factual story. We tested if (a) the D3 and (b) intelligence were correlated with lying ability, and (c) the D3-lying-ability-relation was moderated by intelligence. The results indicated that neither the dark triad nor general intelligence are meaningfully related to lying ability and that general intelligence does not moderate the D3-lying-ability-relation. Our results challenge the view that the D3-traits enable individuals to exploit their social environment effectively.

Keywords: IntelligenceDark triadManipulationLying ability

Mating implicit compromise is lowering of ideal preferences to match one's own mate value, explicit compromise is choosing a mate who falls short of one's ideal preferences; both sexes engage in extensive implicit compromise

Implicit and explicit compromises in long-term partner choice. Melinda Williams, Danielle Sulikowski. Personality and Individual Differences, Volume 166, 1 November 2020, 110226. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2020.110226

Highlights
• Assortative mating occurs when people select mates whose value matches their own.
• Implicit compromise is lowering of ideal preferences to match one's own mate value.
• Explicit compromise is choosing a mate who falls short of one's ideal preferences.
• Both sexes engage in extensive implicit compromise, driving assortative mating.
• Neither sex exhibits extensive explicit compromise in partner choice.

Abstract: Individuals select mates adaptively, adjusting their ideal partner preferences in accordance with their own mate value, and prevailing environmental conditions. They may then select a mate that falls short of these preferences if they are unable to locate or attract someone who meets their ideals. In the current study we investigated the extent to which men and women of varying mate value compromise their mate choice decisions implicitly (by lowering their preferred ideals) or explicitly (by choosing a partner who falls short of their declared). Participants reported on their ideal trait preferences, the traits of an actual long-term partner, and their own mate value. We observed that both men and women engaged in substantial implicit compromise, with lower stated ideal preferences across all potential partner traits, as participant self-perceived mate value decreased. Explicit compromises were comparatively rare and unrelated to an individual's own mate value. We conclude that implicit compromise from both men and women plays a far greater role than does explicit compromise in either sex in driving assortative mating.

Keywords: Ideal partner preferencesMate valueMate choiceCompromise

500 U.S. adults report on the likelihood they would engage in criminal behavior if all crime were legal on one day each year—18% of participants would be likely to take parte on some crime

Who Would ‘Purge’? Low Self-Control, Psychopathy, and Offending in the Absence of Legal Controls. Ryan C. Meldrum, Peter S. Lehmann, Jamie L. Flexon. Crime & Delinquency , July 6, 2020. https://doi.org/10.1177/0011128720940953

Abstract: The assumption that people are inherently self-interested and that legal controls are needed to prevent crime underlies several criminological perspectives. In the current study, this assumption is tested by having a sample of 500 U.S. adults report on the likelihood they would engage in criminal behavior if all crime were legal on one day each year—a scenario depicted in the 2013 film The Purge. Based on the presumption that at least some individuals would “purge,” the extent to which low self-control and psychopathy are associated with the likelihood of purging is also considered. Results indicate that 18% of participants would be likely to purge. In addition, both low self-control and psychopathy are positively associated with the likelihood of purging.

Keywords: low self-control, psychopathy, The Purge, social control, deterrence

UK COVID-19 lockdown: A slowing of the passage of time was associated with increasing age, increasing stress, reduced task load and reduced satisfaction with current levels of social interaction

The passage of time during the UK Covid-19 lockdown. Ruth S. Ogden. PLoS One, July 6, 2020. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0235871

Abstract: In March 2020, in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, the UK Government imposed social and physical distancing measures on the population. These lockdown measures caused significant changes to all aspects of daily life. The current study examined how the passage of time was distorted during the lockdown period. Using an online questionnaire, day and week passage of time judgments were collected. In addition, measures of affect, task load and satisfaction with current levels of social interaction were taken. The results show that over 80% of participants experienced distortion to the passage of time during lockdown in comparison with normal. The passage of time during the day was predicted by age, stress, task load and satisfaction with current levels of social interaction. A slowing of the passage of time was associated with increasing age, increasing stress, reduced task load and reduced satisfaction with current levels of social interaction. Only age and satisfaction with current levels of social interaction predicted passage of time across a week. Again, increasing age and reduced satisfaction with levels of social interaction were associated with a slowing of the passage of time. These findings demonstrate that significant changes to daily life have a significant impact on our experience of time, with younger, more socially satisfied people more likely to experience time as passing more quickly during the lockdown.

Spiritual training is assumed to reduce self-enhancement, but may have the paradoxical effect of boosting superiority feelings, contributing to self- worth and communal narcissism

Vonk, Roos. 2020. “Spiritual Superiority.” PsyArXiv. July 4. doi:10.31234/osf.io/qh457

Abstract: Spiritual training is assumed to reduce self-enhancement, but may have the paradoxical effect of boosting superiority feelings. It can, thus, operate like other self-enhancement tools and contribute to a contingent self- worth that depends on one’s spiritual accomplishments. In three studies (N=533, N=2223, N=965), a brief measure of Spiritual Superiority showed good internal consistency and discriminant validity. As predicted, it was distinctly related to Spiritual Contingency of Self-Worth, illustrating that the self-enhancement function of spirituality is similar to other contingency domains. It was correlated with self-esteem and, more strongly, with communal narcissism, corroborating the notion of spiritual narcissism. Spiritual superiority scores were consistently higher among energetically trained participants than mindfulness trainees and were associated with Supernatural Overconfidence and self-ascribed Spiritual Guidance. Our results illustrate that the self- enhancement motive is powerful and deeply ingrained so that it can hijack methods intended to transcend the ego and, instead, adopt them to its own service.


Check also Petersen, Michael Bang, and Panagiotis Mitkidis. 2019. “A Sober Second Thought? A Pre-registered Experiment on the Effects of Mindfulness Meditation on Political Tolerance.” PsyArXiv. October 20. https://www.bipartisanalliance.com/2019/10/analyses-of-data-from-pilot-experiment.html

‘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://www.bipartisanalliance.com/2019/07/i-do-not-exist-pathologies-of-self.html

Mindfulness not related to behavioral & speech markers of emotional positivity (or less negativity), interpersonally better connected (quality or quantity), or prosocial orientation (more affectionate, less gossipy or complaining)Dispositional mindfulness in daily life:

Deanna M. Kaplan, L. Raison, Anne Milek, Allison M. Tackman, Thaddeus W. W. Pace, Matthias R. Mehl. PLOS, https://www.bipartisanalliance.com/2018/11/mindfulness-not-related-to-behavioral.html

We argue that the ability to covertly monitor others without executing a look towards them is an important process that compensates for the risk of looking directly during certain social situations

I spy without my eye: Covert attention in human social interactions. Jill A. Dosso, Michelle Huynh, Alan Kingstone, Cognition, 104388, Jul 6 2020. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2020.104388

Abstract: Looking at other people allows us to collect information about them, but it can also reveal our attentional state when we would rather conceal it. We report that individuals spontaneously employ sustained covert monitoring, rather than direct looking, when evaluating the actions of a live stranger. In contrast, individuals look directly at the actions of a stranger on video. We argue that the ability to secretly monitor live others without executing a look towards them is an important process that compensates for the risk of looking directly during certain social situations. Covert monitoring allows people to avoid visually communicating to others that they are the focus of one's attention. This represents a previously undocumented function of covert attention outside of the laboratory. It suggests that the relationship between covert attention and looking is dynamic and likely to be foundational to the successful navigation of real-world social situations.

Keywords: Covert attentionEyeReal-worldSocial behaviourVision

Results, therefore, suggest that the bilingual advantage in children’s executive control is small, variable, and potentially not attributable to the effect of language status

Lowe, Cassandra J. 2020. “The Bilingual Advantage in Children: A Meta-analytic Review.” PsyArXiv. July 7. doi:10.31234/osf.io/spjfg

Abstract: There is considerable debate about whether bilingual children are advantaged in executive functioning relative to monolingual children. The current meta-analysis addressed this debate by comprehensively reviewing the available evidence. Here, we synthesized data from published studies and unpublished datasets, which equated to 1209 effect sizes from 10,672 bilingual and 12,289 monolingual participants aged 3- to 17-years. Consistent with the bilingual advantage hypothesis, bilingual language status had a small effect on children’s executive functions (g =.08, 95% CI [.01, .14]). However, this effect was indistinguishable from zero after adjusting for bias (g=-.04, 95 % CI [-.12, .05]). Further, no significant effects were apparent within the executive attention, where the effects of language status are thought to be most pronounced (g =.08, 95% CI [.01, .14]). Results, therefore, suggest that the bilingual advantage in children’s executive control is small, variable, and potentially not attributable to the effect of language status.

Rather than making marriage less desirable, some forms of "low-cost sexual gratification" (pornography) imply a higher desire for marriage, one in which sex would be more consistently available

Does Low-Cost Sexual Gratification Make Men Less Eager to Marry? Pornography Use, Masturbation, Hookup Sex, and Desire to be Married among Single Men. Samuel Perry. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 2020. https://www.academia.edu/43502365

Abstract: Coinciding with declining rates of marriage and coupled sex in the United States, some scholars have proposed that the growing availability of "low-cost sexual gratification" or "cheap sex"-sexual activities such as hookups, pornography use, and masturbation that demand little effort or investment-will lead men to find marital commitment less appealing. Using data from two nationally representative surveys of American adults (2012 New Family Structures Study, N = 349; 2014 Relationships in America Survey, N = 1,402), the current study tested the thesis that unmarried men's pornography use, masturbation habits, or frequency of recent hookup sex would be associated with a lower likelihood of them finding marriage desirable. This thesis was unsupported. In both surveys, masturbation and hookup sex were not associated with unmarried men wishing to be married, while pornography use was robustly and linearly associated with a higher likelihood of wanting to be married. This association was apparent at both the bivariate level and after taking into account sexual satisfaction, relationship status, beliefs about marriage, and a host of other potential confounds. Findings suggest that, rather than making marriage less desirable, some forms of "low-cost sexual gratification" such as pornography use predict a comparatively higher desire for marriage. The implications of these findings are considered in light of sex-exchange theories of marital commitment and the large body of previous research connecting pornography use to more liberal, non-monogamous sexual attitudes.

DISCUSSION

Numerous studies have elaborated and tested theories relating to heterosexual men and women engaging in “exchanges” for sex, either implicitly in romantic relationships or more explicitly in sex work. While Malcolm and Naufal (2016) found a robust association between Internet pornography use and lower marriage rates among men, no studies tested whether access to forms of “low-cost sexual gratification” is associated with men’s lower expressed desire for marriage. Using two nationally representative data sets with nearly identical measures, the current study found no evidence that hookup sex, masturbation, or pornography use, either at the bivariate level or with proper controls in place, seemed to disincline single men from wanting to be married. Moreover, while sexual dissatisfaction did indeed seem to be a strong correlate of single, never-married men wanting to be married (Regnerus, 2017), “low-cost” sexual alternatives did not seem to mitigate that association. Indeed, even with all the low/nocommitment sexual activities included in full models in Tables 3 and 4, the odds ratios of sexual dissatisfaction were only slightly reduced, and not at all in their statistical significance. Conversely, pornography viewing frequency turned out to be a significant, positive predictor of wanting to be married even when relationship status, beliefs about marriage, sex frequency, masturbation, and sexual satisfaction were taken into account. In other words, holding constant how much casual sex single men were having, their level of satisfaction with that sex, how much they masturbate, or even their views about marriage as an institution, viewing pornography did not seem to make them less inclined to want marriage, but could, in fact, make them more interested in the prospect of a committed romantic relationship. How might that happen? Pornography use cannot merely be a proxy for men’s desire to experience some sort of immediate sexual gratification that marriage might provide since the models control for sexual contentment, as well as masturbation, sexual frequency, and romantic involvement. And while several bivariate associations (Table 2) and multivariate associations (e.g., hookup sex in Table 3, Model 2) suggest that low/no-commitment sexual alternatives might disincline single men from preferring marriage, it could be that pornography use simply does not provide an alternative to committed romantic relationships as some propose (e.g., Malcolm & Naufal, 2016; Perry & Longest, 2018; Regnerus, 2017, 2019). To nuance the “low-cost sexual gratification” thesis, perhaps pornography in particular does not replace committed, romantic relationships, but stimulates a desire for a committed relationship in which sex would be more consistently available. As Regnerus (2017, pp. 42-43) pointed out, even single men who are engaging in “cheap-sex” activities anticipate that they will eventually get married. Regnerus (2017) explains, “Many men anticipate their own greater willingness to eventually pay the elevated price (of marriage)…And even though they may feel like they’re in the driver’s seat in the marriage market, ideal spouses grow less numerous with time” (pp. 42-43). Though studies have suggested pornography use may stimulate a desire for casual, non-monogamous sex (Grubbs et al., 2019; Tokunaga et al., 2019; Wright & Tokunaga, 2016; Wright et al., 2014), it is possible that pornography use may promote more “strategic” or “anticipatory” thinking among men, namely, provoking a desire for situations in which sex would be more readily available long-term. Indeed, while some empirical research suggests that frequent pornography use is associated with greater interest in non-monogamous sexual relationships (see studies reviewed in Grubbs et al., 2019), nuanced with the findings presented here, it may be that pornography use indirectly inclines unmarried men to opt into the sort of long-term commitment marriage entails (Malcolm & Naufal, 2016; Regnerus, 2017, 2019). There were limitations of these data. Most importantly, they were cross-sectional and thus causal relationships cannot be definitively demonstrated. Closely related to this limitation is the fact that these data only measure single men’s expressed desire to be married, which is different from capturing their likelihood of actually getting married later on. While desire for marriage does directly test a thesis put forward by the “low-cost sexual gratification” argument, it would obviously be necessary to take actual outcomes into account in order to demonstrate whether pornography use, masturbation, or hookup sex contributed to a higher likelihood of eventual marriage among young men. Future studies testing these theories would ideally use longitudinal designs wherein scholars can examine the influence of pornography use or hookup sex on the relationship trajectories of men and women over their life course (Perry & Longest, 2018 represented a preliminary attempt at this). Another limitation is that the measure of “hookup sex” (sexual frequency in the past 1-2 weeks × not currently in a relationship) was less direct than desirable. While the end result was arguably the same as it would have been otherwise, future studies on this topic would benefit from a more direct measure of hookup sex that would inquire about participants’ frequency of casual sex with partners with whom the participant is not currently in a relationship.

Along these lines, due to data limitations, this study was not able to test one aspect of Regnerus’ (2017) overall thesis, which was that earlier time-to-sex in romantic relationships also introduced a form of low-commitment sexual gratification that women felt pressured to offer (because of alternatives like pornography, hookups, etc.) that could potentially disincline men to be interested in marital commitment. Future studies would ideally inquire about young people in the earlier stages of their romantic relationship and how long into their relationship they had sex. Lastly, while the link between pornography use and desire for marriage in both surveys was clearly robust, it was not possible to discern the precise mechanisms behind greater pornography use and men’s desire to be married. Qualitative interviews would be more ideal to flesh out exactly how frequent pornography viewers think about marriage. These limitations notwithstanding, the current study has extended our understanding of the contemporary association between low/no-commitment sexual activities and desire for marriage among single, never-married men. Though declining rates of marriage and coupled sex are likely the result of a variety of interrelated factors, findings from the current study suggest that one of those factors is unlikely to be declining interest among young men that results from engaging in “low-cost” sexual alternatives like pornography use, masturbation, and hookup sex. Masturbation and hookup sex were ultimately unrelated to single-men’s preference to be married, and pornography use was associated with greater desire for marriage among single men. Yet it is worth thinking about whether these observed associations may be any different in the future. Though the relationship between hookup sex and desire for marriage, for example, was non-significant in the full models of the 2012 NFSS, it was marginal (p = .052), and was statistically significant at .05 before pornography and masturbation were taken into account (Table 3, Model 2). It could be that while pornography use, and perhaps masturbation (Table 4, Model 3), may incline single, never-married men to pursue marriage, greater access to casual sex does provide a weak disincentive to get married. As the interviewees in Huang et al.’s (2011) analysis suspected, it may be that easier access to sexual activity, as long as it is with a real person, could make men less inclined to get married. This would be consistent with Regnerus’ (2017) argument that earlier time-to-sex in heterosexual romantic relationships (because they exchange sex for little commitment) are the sort of “low-cost” sexual alternative that might disincline men to commit to marriage. As casual sex becomes less stigmatized within society, scholars should revisit these findings in order to discern whether hookups now provide a robust disinclination for men to marry. So too, as more couples intentionally opt for long-term cohabiting relationships rather than formal marriage, scholars could also revisit how earlier sex, hookup sex, and other forms of low-commitment sexual activity may play a role.  

 

Concerns about long-term social/emotional effects of acceleration for high-potential students appear to be unwarranted, as has been demonstrated for short-term effects

Bernstein, B. O., Lubinski, D., & Benbow, C. P. (2020). Academic acceleration in gifted youth and fruitless concerns regarding psychological well-being: A 35-year longitudinal study. Journal of Educational Psychology, Jul 2020. https://doi.org/10.1037/edu0000500

Abstract: Academic acceleration of intellectually precocious youth is believed to harm overall psychological well-being even though short-term studies do not support this belief. Here we examine the long-term effects. Study 1 involves three cohorts identified before age 13, then longitudinally tracked for over 35 years: Cohort 1 gifted (top 1% in ability, identified 1972–1974, N = 1,020), Cohort 2 highly gifted (top 0.5% in ability, identified 1976–1979, N = 396), and Cohort 3 profoundly gifted (top 0.01% in ability, identified 1980–1983, N = 220). Two forms of educational acceleration were examined: (a) age at high school graduation and (b) quantity of advanced learning opportunities pursued prior to high school graduation. Participants were evaluated at age 50 on several well-known indicators of psychological well-being. Amount of acceleration did not covary with psychological well-being. Study 2, a constructive replication of Study 1, used a different high-potential sample—elite science, technology, engineering, and mathematics graduate students (N = 478) identified in 1992. Their educational histories were assessed at age 25 and they were followed up at age 50 using the same psychological assessments. Again, the amount of educational acceleration did not covary with psychological well-being. Further, the psychological well-being of participants in both studies was above the average of national probability samples. Concerns about long-term social/emotional effects of acceleration for high-potential students appear to be unwarranted, as has been demonstrated for short-term effects.

Two systems of belief change: One adheres, mostly, to epistemological norms of updating; the other (a psychological immune system) guards our most centrally held beliefs from potential inconsistency with new beliefs

The science of belief: A progress report. Nicolas Porot  Eric Mandelbaum. WIREs Cognitive Science, July 6 2020. https://doi.org/10.1002/wcs.1539

Abstract: The empirical study of belief is emerging at a rapid clip, uniting work from all corners of cognitive science. Reliance on belief in understanding and predicting behavior is widespread. Examples can be found, inter alia, in the placebo, attribution theory, theory of mind, and comparative psychological literatures. Research on belief also provides evidence for robust generalizations, including about how we fix, store, and change our beliefs. Evidence supports the existence of a Spinozan system of belief fixation: one that is automatic and independent of belief rejection. Independent research supports the existence of a system of fragmented belief storage: one that relies on large numbers of causally isolated, context‐sensitive stores of belief in memory. Finally, empirical and observational data support at least two systems of belief change. One system adheres, mostly, to epistemological norms of updating; the other, the psychological immune system, functions to guard our most centrally held beliefs from potential inconsistency with newly formed beliefs. Refining our understanding of these systems can shed light on pressing real‐world issues, such as how fake news, propaganda, and brainwashing exploit our psychology of belief, and how best to construct our modern informational world.

Those of the most pessimistic (optimistic) expectations in financial realizations experienced a 21.8% (13.5%) reduction in long-run well-being due to the decision errors and counteracting emotions of biased beliefs

Neither an Optimist Nor a Pessimist Be: Mistaken Expectations Lower Well-Being. David de Meza, Chris Dawson. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, July 6, 2020. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167220934577

Abstract: This article speaks to the classic view that mental health requires accurate self-perception. Using a representative British sample (N = 1,601) it finds that, as measured by two established well-being indicators, those with mistaken expectations, whether optimistic or pessimistic, do worse than realists. We index unrealistic optimism as the difference between financial expectations and financial realizations measured annually over 18 years. The effects are not small, with those holding the most pessimistic (optimistic) expectations experiencing a 21.8% (13.5%) reduction in long-run well-being. These findings may result from the decision errors and counteracting emotions associated with holding biased beliefs. For optimists, disappointment may eventually dominate the anticipatory feelings of expecting the best while for pessimists the depressing effect of expecting doom may eventually dominate the elation when the worst is avoided. Also, plans based on inaccurate beliefs are bound to deliver worse outcomes than would rational expectations.

Keywords: unrealistic optimism, well-being, decision making, loss aversion, disappointment aversion

Ugliness judgments respond to cues of pathogen presence; ugliness may activate the behavioral immune system, alerting us to stimuli that pose pathogen risk

Ugliness Judgments Alert us to Cues of Pathogen Presence. Christoph Klebl et al. Social Psychological and Personality Science, July 6, 2020. https://doi.org/10.1177/1948550620931655

Abstract: Little is known about the psychology of ugliness. We propose that ugliness judgments are linked to the behavioral immune system, alerting us to objects that may contain potentially harmful diseases. Exploring this possibility, in five studies (N = 1,552), we found that ugly human faces (Studies 1a and 1b), ugly animals (Study 2), and—to a lesser degree—ugly buildings (Study 2) elicit disgust controlling for other avoidance-motivated emotional responses. Furthermore, the presence (vs. absence) of disease cues were found to elicit ugliness judgments (Studies 3 and 4) suggesting that ugliness judgments respond to cues of pathogen presence. As such, ugliness may activate the behavioral immune system, alerting us to stimuli that pose pathogen risk.

Keywords: ugliness, behavioral immune system, disgust, aesthetics

Links between screen use and depressive symptoms in adolescents over 16 years: It is concluded that screens and social media use are unlikely to bear major responsibility for youth suicide trends

Links between screen use and depressive symptoms in adolescents over 16 years: Is there evidence for increased harm? Christopher J. Ferguson. Developmental Science, June 23 2020. https://doi.org/10.1111/desc.13008

Abstract: Recent scholarship has been divided on whether an observed increase in suicides in the United States among teenagers and preteens (12–18) can be attributed to an increased use in social screen media beginning in 2009. If these concerns are accurate effect sizes for the relationship between screen use and suicide should increase over the 16 years since 2001. The current study used the Florida Youth Risk Behavior Survey data (n  = 45,992) from 2001 to 2017, to track effect sizes for screen/depression correlations, controlling for age and gender. A second dataset from the UK Understanding Society dataset (ns for each wave ranged between 3,536 and 4,850) was used to study associations between time spent on social media and emotional problems. Metaregression was be used to examine whether effect sizes increase across time. Results generally did not support the hypothesis that effect sizes between screen and social media use are increasing over time. Aside from the trends over time, for any given year, most effect sizes were below the r  = .10 threshold used for interpretation with the exception of computer use which was just at that threshold. It is concluded that screens and social media use are unlikely to bear major responsibility for youth suicide trends.

Breakfast skipping may have a modest impact on weight loss compared to breakfast consumers, and may increase LDL cholesterol in the short term

Breakfast Skipping, Body Composition, and Cardiometabolic Risk: A Systematic Review and Meta‐Analysis of Randomized Trials. Jonathan P. Bonnet  Michelle I. Cardel  Jaqueline Cellini  Frank B. Hu  Marta Guasch‐Ferré. Obesity, April 18 2020. https://doi.org/10.1002/oby.22791

Abstract
Objective The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of skipping breakfast on body composition and cardiometabolic risk factors.

Methods This study conducted a systematic review and meta‐analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) evaluating breakfast skipping compared with breakfast consumption. Inclusion criteria included age ≥ 18, intervention duration ≥ 4 weeks, ≥ 7 participants per group, and ≥ 1 body composition measure. Random‐effects meta‐analyses of the effect of breakfast skipping on body composition and cardiometabolic risk factors were performed.

Results Seven RCTs (n  = 425 participants) with an average duration of 8.6 weeks were included. Compared with breakfast consumption, breakfast skipping significantly reduced body weight (weighted mean difference [WMD] = −0.54 kg [95% CI: −1.05 to −0.03], P  = 0.04, I 2 = 21.4%). Percent body fat was reported in 5 studies and was not significantly different between breakfast skippers and consumers. Three studies reported on low‐density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL), which was increased in breakfast skippers as compared with breakfast consumers (WMD = 9.24 mg/dL [95% CI: 2.18 to 16.30], P  = 0.01). Breakfast skipping did not lead to significant differences in blood pressure, total cholesterol, high‐density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, triglycerides, C‐reactive protein, insulin, fasting glucose, leptin, homeostatic model assessment of insulin resistance, or ghrelin.

Conclusions Breakfast skipping may have a modest impact on weight loss and may increase LDL in the short term. Further studies are needed to provide additional insight into the effects of breakfast skipping.

Chemical engineers, computer & information systems managers, & management analysts are virtually all Republican; epidemiologists, computer programmers, & historians are virtually all Democrats

Occupational Engagement and Partisanship in the United States. Darin DeWitt. Political Studies Review, July 4, 2020. https://doi.org/10.1177/1478929920932129

Abstract: In this article, I present a portrait of the American power elite and their relationship with the party system. I focus on occupational categories as institutional positions and take up three questions: Which occupational categories wield social influence? How politically mobilized is each of these occupational categories? And what partisan tilt is exhibited by each category? My results help clarify the contemporary structure of American electoral competition. Furthermore, they also shed light on which social groups have a voice in American politics and, thus, speak to questions of political equality.

Keywords: power elite, occupational subcultures, party identification, political inequality