Conditional same-different discrimination by pigeons: Acquisition and generalization to novel and few-item displays.

The authors explored whether pigeons can learn to discriminate simultaneously presented arrays of 16 identical (Same) visual items from arrays of 16 nonidentical (Different) visual items, when the correct choice was conditional on the presence of another cue: the color of the background. In one experiment, pigeons rapidly learned this task and, after training with arrays created from a 72-icon set, they exhibited nearly perfect transfer to novel testing arrays. In a second experiment, pigeons’ accuracy to 24-, 20-, 12-, and 8-icon arrays during later testing remained as high as accuracy to training arrays; although accuracy declined with 4- and 2-icon arrays, it was still significantly above chance. In both experiments, pigeons’ choice reaction time scores nicely complemented their choice accuracy scores. These results suggest that the conditional discrimination procedure is well suited to disclose same-different discrimination in pigeons and to elucidate the interaction between perception and abstraction in conceptual learning. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Intertrial interval as a contextual stimulus: Further analysis of a novel asymmetry in temporal discrimination learning.

Four experiments investigated discrimination learning when the duration of the intertrial interval (ITI) signaled whether or not the next conditional stimulus (CS) would be paired with food pellets. Rats received presentations of a 10-s CS separated half the time by long ITIs and half the time by short ITIs. When the long ITI signaled that the CS would be reinforced and the short interval signaled that it would not be (Long+/Short?), rats learned the discrimination readily. However, when the short ITI signaled that the CS would be reinforced and the long interval signaled that it would not (Short+/Long?), discrimination learning was much slower. Experiment 1 compared Long+/Short? and Short+/Long? discrimination learning with 16-min/4-min or 4-min/1-min ITI combinations. Experiment 2 found no evidence that Short+/Long? learning is inferior because the temporal cue corresponding to the short interval is ambiguous. Experiment 3 found no evidence that Short+/Long? learning is poor because the end of a long ITI signals a substantial reduction in delay to the next reinforcer. Long+/Short? learning may be faster than Short+/Long?because elapsing time involves exposure to a sequence of hypothetical stimulus elements (e.g., A then B), and feature-positive discriminations (AB+/A?) are learned quicker than feature-negative discriminations (A+/AB?). Consistent with this view, Experiment 4 found a robust feature-positive effect when sequentially presented CSs played the role of elements A and B. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Superordinate categorization via learned stimulus equivalence: Quantity of reinforcement, hedonic value, and the nature of the mediator.

Three experiments examined superordinate categorization via stimulus equivalence training in pigeons. Experiment 1 established superordinate categories by association with a common number of food pellet reinforcers, plus it established generalization to novel photographic stimuli. Experiment 2 documented generalization of choice responding from stimuli signaling different numbers of food pellets to stimuli signaling different delays to food reinforcement. Experiment 3 indicated that different numbers of food pellets did not substitute as discriminative stimuli for the photographic stimuli with which the food pellets had been paired. The collective results suggest that the effective mediator of superordinate categories that are established via learned stimulus equivalence is not likely to be an accurate representation of the reinforcer, neither is it likely to be a distinctive response that is made to the discriminative stimulus. Motivational or emotional mediation is a more likely account. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Asian Indians' responses to discrimination: A mixed-method examination of identity, coping, and self-esteem.

The focus on racial injustice in ethnic minority psychology recognizes a need to understand the effects of racism experienced by Asian Indians in the U.S. Utilizing a mixed-method approach with 102 first and second generation Asian Indians, we examined (a) when and why race and ethnicity are salient for Asian Indians, (b) the mediating roles of racial identity and ethnic identity, and (c) the moderating roles of generational status and racial socialization on the relationship between racism related stress, self-esteem and coping. Qualitative analyses revealed distinct and overlapping themes related to race and ethnicity highlighting the relevance of both constructs to participants. Quantitative analyses revealed racial identity to be a significant mediator in the relationship between racism related stress, self-esteem, and coping. Neither generational status nor racial socialization experiences moderated this relationship. Implications of these findings for research and clinical intervention with Asian Indians are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Racial identity, social context, and race-related social cognition in African Americans during middle childhood.

This study examined the effect of changes in racial identity, cross-race friendships, same-race friendships, and classroom racial composition on changes in race-related social cognition from 3rd to 5th grade for 73 African American children. The goal of the study was to determine the extent to which preadolescent racial identity and social context predict expectations of racial discrimination in cross-race social interactions (social expectations). Expectations of racial discrimination were assessed using vignettes of cross-race social situations involving an African American child in a social interaction with European Americans. There were 3 major findings. First, expectations for discrimination declined slightly from 3rd to 5th grade. Second, although racial composition of children's classrooms, number of European American friends, gender, and family poverty status were largely unrelated to social expectations, having more African American friends was associated with expecting more discrimination in cross-racial interactions from 3rd to 5th grade. Third, increases in racial centrality were related to increases in discrimination expectations, and increases in public regard were associated with decreases in discrimination expectations. These data suggest that as early as 3rd grade, children are forming attitudes about their racial group that have implications for their cross-race social interactions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Gender matters, too: The influences of school racial discrimination and racial identity on academic engagement outcomes among African American adolescents.

The authors examined relationships among racial identity, school-based racial discrimination experiences, and academic engagement outcomes for adolescent boys and girls in Grades 8 and 11 (n = 204 boys and n = 206 girls). The authors found gender differences in peer and classroom discrimination and in the impact of earlier and later discrimination experiences on academic outcomes. Racial centrality related positively to school performance and school importance attitudes for boys. Also, centrality moderated the relationship between discrimination and academic outcomes in ways that differed across gender. For boys, higher racial centrality related to diminished risk for lower school importance attitudes and grades from experiencing classroom discrimination relative to boys lower in centrality, and girls with higher centrality were protected against the negative impact of peer discrimination on school importance and academic self-concept. However, among lower race-central girls, peer discrimination related positively to academic self-concept. Finally, socioeconomic background moderated the relationship of discrimination with academic outcomes differently for girls and boys. The authors discuss the need to consider interactions of individual- and contextual-level factors in better understanding African American youths' academic and social development. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Defensive helping: Threat to group identity, ingroup identification, status stability, and common group identity as determinants of intergroup help-giving.

On the basis of development of the concept of “defensive helping,” the authors demonstrated that high ingroup identifiers thwart a threat to group identity through defensive help-giving (i.e., by extending help to an outgroup member whose achievements jeopardize their status). Participants were 255 Israeli high school students (130 boys and 125 girls) ages 16–18. The phenomenon of defensive helping was demonstrated in a minimal group (Study 1) and real-group (Study 2) experiment. Study 3, which examined real groups, supported the extension of the phenomenon of defensive helping to relations between high- and low-status groups, showing that members of a high-status group who perceive status relations with the low-status outgroup as unstable will protect the ingroup’s identity by providing dependency-oriented help to the low-status outgroup. Priming for common ingroup identity reversed this pattern, with participants electing to offer autonomy-oriented rather than defensive help. Theoretical and applied implications of these findings are discussed with respect to social change, paternalism, and helping between nations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Pretreatment social relations, therapeutic alliance, and improvements in parenting practices in parent management training.

The authors examined the parent-therapist alliance in parent management training for children (N = 218; 53 girls and 165 boys, ages 2-14) referred clinically for oppositional, aggressive, and antisocial behavior. The interrelations of pretreatment parent social relationships, the parent-therapist alliance over the course of treatment, and improvements in parenting practices at the end of treatment were evaluated by different raters. As expected, the better the quality of the parent-therapist alliance, the greater the improvements in parenting practices by the end of treatment. Social relations of the parents prior to treatment were associated with the parent-therapist alliance during treatment and parental improvements at the end of treatment. The relation between the therapeutic alliance and improvement in parenting practices was partially explained by pretreatment parent social relations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Trajectories of perceived adult and peer discrimination among Black, Latino, and Asian American adolescents: Patterns and psychological correlates.

This article presents results from a 3-year longitudinal study of the growth patterns and correlates of perceived discrimination by adults and by peers among Black, Latino, and Asian American high school students. Results revealed a linear increase over time in levels of perceived discrimination by adults, whereas perceptions of discrimination by peers remained stable over time. Asian American and non-Puerto Rican Latino adolescents (primarily Dominican) reported higher levels of peer and/or adult discrimination than did Puerto Rican youth, whereas Black adolescents reported a steeper increase over time in levels of perceived discrimination by peers and by adults than did Puerto Rican adolescents. Peer and adult discrimination was significantly associated with decreased self-esteem and increased depressive symptoms over time. Ethnic identity and ethnicity were found to moderate the relationships between perceived discrimination and changes in psychological well-being over time. Results underscore the need to include perceptions of discrimination when studying the development and well-being of ethnic minority adolescents. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)