Object permanence in ring doves (Streptopelia risoria).

Object permanence tests were administered to ring doves (Streptopelia risoria). In Experiment 1 (N?=?4), doves received tests in which a food cup was moved behind a screen as the subject watched. The birds successfully retrieved the food when a single screen was used but failed to do so when food was displaced behind 1 of 2 simultaneously present screens. In Experiment 2 (N?=?4), doves were allowed to initiate search movement before the object disappeared behind 1 of 2 screens. This procedural change improved performance. In Experiment 3 (N?=?2), a screen was lowered over a stationary object as the subject approached the object. Lowering the screen interrupted search behavior temporarily without impairing performance. It is argued that interruption of search behavior requires some cognitive flexibility that the typical Stage 4a capacity described in Piaget's theory does not include. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Unprompted recall and reporting of hidden objects by a chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) after extended delays.

The ability to recall features of environments not present to the senses is important in human thinking, planning, and communication, but to date there are almost no data on recall capabilities in nonverbal animals. In this study, the author used symbol knowledge as a tool to study chimpanzee memory. An 11-year-old female chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) that had already learned a large number of arbitrarily designated geometric forms (lexigrams) watched as an experimenter hid an object in the woods outside her outdoor enclosure. The type and location of the object varied across trials. After an imposed delay of up to 16 h, the chimpanzee could interact indoors with a person who did not know that an object had been hidden, let alone the type or location of the object. A keyboard in the indoor cage displayed 256 lexigrams. From Trial 1, the chimpanzee seemed to do whatever it took to catch the person's attention and then touched the lexigram corresponding to the type of object hidden, pointed outdoors, went outdoors (if followed), and continued to point manually toward the object and vocalize until the person found the object. The subject indicated nonfood objects as well as more than 20 food types. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) conceal visual and auditory information from others.

Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) competed with a human for food. The human sat inside a booth, with 1 piece of food to her left and 1 to her right, which she could retract from her chimpanzee competitor's reach as needed. In Experiment 1, chimpanzees could approach either side of the booth unseen but then had to reach through 1 of 2 tunnels (1 clear, 1 opaque) for the food. In Experiment 2, both tunnels were clear and the human was looking away, but 1 of the tunnels made a loud noise when it was opened. Chimpanzees preferentially reached through the opaque tunnel in the first study and the silent tunnel in the second, successfully concealing their taking of the food from the human competitor in both cases. These results suggest that chimpanzees can, in some circumstances, actively manipulate the visual and auditory perception of others by concealing information from them. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Analysis of the content of configural representations: The role of associatively evoked and trace memories.

Two experiments examined the content of configural learning in rats. In Experiment 1, after simple pre-exposure to two hybrid contexts (AB and CD), rats acquired a configural discrimination involving two of the contexts (A and C) and two auditory stimuli (X and Y; AX→food, AY→no food, CX→no food, and CY→food). When rats were then placed in context B, they were more likely to respond to X than Y, and when they were placed in context D the reverse was the case. Experiment 2 demonstrated that rats can acquire a configural discrimination involving the presence of context (A) and its memory trace (a; AX→food, AY→no food, aX→no food, and aY→food). These results show that associatively provoked memories (Experiment 1) and memory traces (Experiment 2) can participate in configural discriminations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sexual Harassment Under Social Identity Threat: The Computer Harassment Paradigm.

Two laboratory experiments investigated the hypothesis that threat to male identity would increase the likelihood of gender harassment. In both experiments, using the computer harassment paradigm, male university students (N=80 in Experiment 1, N=90 in Experiment 2) were exposed to different types of identity threat (legitimacy threat and threat to group value in Experiment 1 and distinctiveness threat and prototypicality threat in Experiment 2) or to no threat and were then given the opportunity to send pornographic material to a virtual female interaction partner. Results show that (a) participants harassed the female interaction partner more when they were exposed to a legitimacy, distinctiveness, or prototypicality threat than to no threat; (b) this was mainly true for highly identified males; and (c) harassment enhanced postexperimental gender identification. Results are interpreted as supporting a social identity account of gender harassment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Do organizational strategies mediate nonverbal memory impairment in drug-na?ve patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder?

Objective: The present study aimed to examine nonverbal memory and organizational skill functions in psychotropic-na?ve patients with OCD. Method: Forty-one drug-na?ve, 41 medicated OCD patients and 41 healthy controls, all of whom were matched for gender, age, education and intelligence, were included in the study. The Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure Test (RCFT) was administered to evaluate nonverbal memory ability and organizational skill. Results: OCD patients demonstrated impaired nonverbal memory irrespective of medication status (F = 6.54, p 2p = .098 for immediate recall; F = 7.76, p p = .114 for delayed recall). Medicated patients showed deficits in organizational strategies (η2p = .079), which mediated nonverbal memory impairment (Z = ?2.20, p = .027). The difference of organizational skill between drug-na?ve and control groups did not reach statistical significance (η2p = .054) and the association between organization and nonverbal memory was weak in the drug-na?ve sample (Z = ?1.74, = .081). There was no significant difference between the patient groups in RCFT indices. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that the organizational strategies may not be an effective mediator of nonverbal memory impairment in OCD and indicate that the clinical characteristics may be important to be considered in future research. Further studies are needed to improve understanding of the nature of nonverbal memory dysfunction in OCD. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Individual differences in working memory and complex cognition.

The relations among assessments of working memory (WM) and a range of complex cognitive abilities were examined. In 2 experiments participants completed 2 WM tasks designed to assess verbal and nonverbal WM, as well as assessments of verbal intelligence, nonverbal intelligence, and academic achievement. Verbal WM had no relationship with nonverbal intelligence, whereas nonverbal WM had no relationship with verbal intelligence and academic achievement. A reanalysis of P. C. Kyllonen & R. E. Christal (see PA, Vol 78:32248; Experiment 1) is reported in which multiple indicators of WM were used to identify verbal and nonverbal WM factors; both of these WM factors were heavily saturated with a second-order factor, g (61% and 69%, respectively). Convergent and discriminant validation of the multidimensionality of WM was found in the patterns of correlations among the first-order Working Memory, General Knowledge, and Speed factors. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Transfer between contextual conditional discriminations: An examination of how stimulus conjunctions are represented.

In 2 experiments, when rats were placed in 1 pair of contexts, A and B, 2 relationships were in force (X→food and Y→no food), and when they were placed in another pair of contexts, C and D, the complementary relationships were operative (Y→food and X→no food). In Experiment 1, rats then received a 2nd discrimination that was either contextually congruent (in A and B, Y→food and X→no food; in C and D, X→food and Y→no food) or contextually incongruent (in A and D, Y→food and X→no food; in C and B, X→food and Y→no food) with the 1st discrimination. In Experiment 2, the 1st discrimination, involving X and Y, was interleaved with a 2nd discrimination, involving V and W, that was again either congruent (in A and B, V→food and W→no food) or incongruent (in A and D, V→food and W→no food) with the 1st discrimination. The congruent discriminations were acquired more readily than were the incongruent discriminations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Following the Wrong Footsteps: Fixation Effects of Pictorial Examples in a Design Problem-Solving Task.

Two experiments examined possible negative transfer in nonexperts from the use of pictorial examples in a laboratory design problem-solving situation. In Experiment 1, 89 participants were instructed to "think aloud" and were assigned to 1 of 3 conditions: (a) control (standard instructions), (b) fixation (inclusion of a problematic example, describing its problematic elements), or (c) defixation (inclusion of a problematic example, with instructions to avoid using problematic elements). Negative transfer due to examples was measured both quantitatively and qualitatively through verbal protocols. Verbal protocols (N = 176) were analyzed for participants' reasons for reference to the examples. In Experiment 2, fixation to examples was evaluated in nonverbalizing participants (N = 60). Results of both experiments suggest that (a) although participants consulted the problem instructions, they tended to follow the examples even when they included inappropriate elements and (b) the fixation effects can be diminished with the use of defixating instructions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Acquired equivalence and distinctiveness of cues.

In Experiments 1 and 2, rats received initial training in which two stimuli (A and N) were either followed by the same consequence (food) or by different consequences (food and no food). Subsequently N was paired with electric shock and the generalization of conditioned suppression to A was assessed. Suppression to A was more marked when A and N had both been followed by food than when they had had different outcomes. In Experiment 3, 3 stimuli (A, B, and N) were presented initially. For one group, A and N were paired with food and B was nonreinforced; for a second group, B was paired with food and A and N were nonreinforced. Generalization of suppression was found to be more substantial to A than to B for both groups. These results indicate that the extent to which stimuli are treated as being equivalent is partly determined by their reinforcement histories. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Concave utility, transaction costs, and risk in measuring discounting of delayed rewards.

Research has consistently found that the decline in the present values of delayed rewards as delay increases is better fit by hyperbolic than by exponential delay-discounting functions. However, concave utility, transaction costs, and risk each could produce hyperbolic-looking data, even when the underlying discounting function is exponential. In Experiments 1 (N=45) and 2 (N=103), participants placed bids indicating their present values of real future monetary rewards in computer-based 2nd-price auctions. Both experiments suggest that utility is not sufficiently concave to account for the superior fit of hyperbolic functions. Experiment 2 provided no evidence that the effects of transaction costs and risk are large enough to account for the superior fit of hyperbolic functions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Spatial Memory and Monitoring of Hidden Items Through Spatial Displacements by Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes).

This study examined chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) short-term memory for food location in near space. In Experiments 1 and 2, either 1 or 2 items (chocolate pieces) were hidden in an array of 3 or 5 containers that either remained stationary or were rotated 180° or 360°. When the array remained stationary, the chimpanzees remembered both item locations. When arrays were rotated, however, chimpanzees found only 1 item. In Experiment 3, 2 items were hidden in an array of 7 cups. Both items were found at levels significantly better than chance. Ninety percent of errors were made after the 1st item was found, and errors reflected memory failure rather than a failure of inhibitory control. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A multitrait-multimethod study of academic and social intelligence in college students.

Two multitrait-multimethod studies of academic and social intelligences show that cognitive and behavioral aspects of social intelligence (Experiment 1) and several cognitive aspects of social intelligence (i.e., social perception, social knowledge, and social insight; Experiment 2) can be discriminated. Verbal, nonverbal, self-, and other-report measures were administered to 134 female college students (Experiment 1) and to 227 male and female college students (Experiment 2). Convergent and discriminant validities were established for cognitive and behavioral dimensions of social intelligence (Experiment 1) and for two dimensions of cognitive social intelligence (social knowledge and social perception; Experiment 2). In both studies, the cognitive social intelligence factors had poor convergent validities, and research participants were college students attending a highly selective university. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Physostigmine, but not 3,4-diaminopyridine, improves radial maze performance in memory-impaired rats

The results of some studies suggest that 3,4-diaminopyridine (3,4-DAP), a drug that enhances the release of acetylcholine, may improve memory. The present study examined the ability of 3,4-DAP to reverse the memory impairment produced by scopolamine and the ability of 3,4-DAP and physostigmine to reverse the memory impairment produced by quinolinic acid lesions of the nucleus basalis magnocellularis (nbm) in rats. Mnemonic functioning was assessed with the use of a partially baited eight-arm radial maze. Entries into arms that were never baited were defined as reference memory errors; entries into baited arms from which the food already had been eaten were defined as working memory errors. In Experiment 1, 0.1 mg/kg scopolamine produced a significant increase in working and reference memory errors. Various doses of 3,4-DAP had no significant ameliorative effect on the mnemonic deficit. In Experiment 2, cholinergic function was impaired using a unilateral intra-nbm injection of quinolinic acid (120 nmol in 1.0 microliter). These lesions reduced the levels of the cholinergic marker, choline acetyltransferase, in the cortex by more than 40%. Results showed that the nbm lesion animals were significantly more impaired on the working than reference memory component of the task. Physostigmine (0.01, 0.05, 0.10, 0.20, 0.50 mg/kg) dose-dependently decreased the number of working but not reference memory errors. 3,4-DAP (10(-8), 10(-6), 10(-4), 10(-2), 10(0) mg/kg) had no reliable effect. It was concluded that physostigmine, but not 3,4-DAP, ameliorates memory impairments following decreases in cholinergic function.     

Mug shot exposure prior to lineup identification: Interference, transference, and commitment effects.

The effects of viewing mug shots on subsequent identification performance are as yet unclear. Two experiments used a live staged-crime paradigm to determine if interpolated eyewitness exposure to mug shots caused interference, unconscious transference, or commitment effects influencing subsequent lineup accuracy. Experiment 1 (N =104) tested interference effects. Similar correct decision rates were obtained for the mug shot and no mug shot groups from both perpetrator-present and absent lineups. Experiment 2 (N =132) tested for commitment and transference effects. Results showed that the commitment group made significantly more incorrect identifications than either the control or the transference group, which had similar false-identification rates. Commitment effects present a serious threat to identification accuracy from lineups following mug shot searches. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Nonverbal behaviors of "good" and "poor" counselors.

Determined whether skills involved in decoding of nonverbal behaviors are related to the clinical skills of the beginning counselor. Two groups of master's level counselor-trainees (N?=?24) served as Ss. One group was judged by the practicum supervisor as "good" (top 20%) and the other was judged as "poor" (bottom 20%) in interviewing skills. Each counselor conducted a 21-min videotaped interview with a client. The counselor's nonverbal behaviors were rated by the client (using the Behavior Rating Form) and were analyzed by 2 training judges on 4 dimensions of nonverbal behaviors. Decoding skills, as measured by a film test (the Profile of Nonverbal Sensitivity), were compared between good and poor groups. Also, client- and judge-rated counselor nonverbal behaviors were compared with decoding skills. Results show no significant difference between good and poor counselors in nonverbal decoding abilities. Counselor nonverbal behaviors, as rated by judges, showed no significant correlations with decoding skills; however, client ratings were inversely related to nonverbal decoding skills. (7 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

In vitro hepatic metabolism of ABT-418 in chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes). A unique pattern of microsomal flavin-containing monooxygenase-dependent stereoselective N'-oxidation

Metabolism of the cholinergic channel activator [N-methyl-3H]ABT-418 was studied using precision-cut tissue slices and microsomes (+/- cytosol) prepared from a single chimpanzee liver. In both cases, the products of C-oxidation (lactam) and N'-oxidation (cis > trans) were detected. In the presence of chimpanzee liver microsomes and cytosol, which had been characterized with respect to the levels of aldehyde oxidase (N1-methylnicotinamide oxidase), NADPH-dependent flavin-containing monooxygenase (FMO; N, N-dimethylaniline N-oxidase), and various cytochrome P450 (CYP)-dependent monooxygenase activities, ABT-418 lactam and N'-oxide formation was found to be largely dependent on CYP/aldehyde oxidase and FMO, respectively. The rank order of total (trans + cis) FMO-dependent N'-oxidation in liver microsomes was dog > rat > rabbit > chimpanzee > or = cynomolgus monkey > human. It is concluded that the metabolic profile of ABT-418 in the chimpanzee is unique. First, the C-/N'-oxidation ratio in liver slices (0.43) is similar to that of the rat and dog and dissimilar to that of the rat and dog and dissimilar to that of the two other primate species studied; human and cynomolgus monkey (C-/N'-oxidation ratio > or = 9.4). Second, the pattern of ABT-418 N'-oxidation observed with chimpanzee liver microsomes, and liver slices (trans:cis = 1:3), differs from that of rat, rabbit, and dog liver microsomes, rat and human kidney S-9 (trans > cis), human liver microsomes (trans:cis approximately 1:1), and cynomolgus monkey (trans:cis approximately 2:1) liver microsomes. Lack of stereoselective N'-oxidation by human FMO was confirmed with cDNA-expressed FMO3.     

Responses of observer rats (Rattus norvegicus) to complex, diet-related signals emitted by demonstrator rats.

We explored the effects of complex, food-identifying signals emitted by demonstrator Long-Evans rats (Rattus norvegicus) on food preferences of their observers. In Experiments 1 and 2, observers identified each of 2 or 3 foods their demonstrators had eaten before interacting with observers. In Experiment 3, individual observers interacted with groups of demonstrators. Some of these demonstrators had eaten one food, some another. Observers then chose between the 2 foods. The greater the proportion of demonstrators in a group that had eaten a diet, the greater the proportion of that diet the observers ate. In Experiment 4, each observer interacted over several weeks with a series of demonstrators and preferred each of the foods its demonstrators had eaten. In sum, the food preferences of observers were affected by several different types of complex, food-identifying signals like those one might expect rats to encounter outside the laboratory. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Client self-presentations at intake.

Self-presentations to a counselor were explored with both nonclinical and clinical samples. In Experiment 1, university students (N?=?108) completed intake forms that would be anonymous or would be reviewed by a counselor or a peer. Participants in the counselor condition reported less symptomatology and higher self-esteem than did those in the anonymous condition. In Experiment 2, clients seeking counseling at a hospital (N?=?92) completed intake forms that would be anonymous or would be reviewed by either a counselor or a counselor who requested that they reveal their innermost thoughts. There were no differences in reported levels of well-being across the 3 conditions; however, clients in the counselor conditions had higher social desirability scores than did those in the anonymous condition. Thus, although clients may be willing to present themselves as low in well-being to their counselor, they may try to look like good people. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Account-giving for a corporate transgression influences moral judgement: When those who "spin" condone harm-doing.

Generating some types of accounts--justifications, excuses, or apologies--for an organization's harm-doing increases condoning of a transgression compared with generating denials or not having to explain a transgression. In Experiment 1, students (N = 324) were required either to explain a corporation's use of child labor to manufacture its products or merely to read about it. Explaining decreased condemnation of the offense compared with when no explanation was required. In Experiment 2, students (N = 101) either justified the corporation's harm-doing or denied that the corporation had harmed employees, with justifications increasing condoning more than denials. In Experiment 3, students (N = 113) either wrote an apology or wrote a denial, with apologizers condoning harm-doing more than deniers. Differences appear to be due to some accounts eliciting cognitive elaboration on the misdeed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)