Ontogeny of chick responses to maternal food calls in the Burmese red junglefowl (Gallus gallus spadiceus).

Burmese red junglefowl (Gallus gallus spadiceus) chicks were reinforced at 5 days old with a mealworm at the end of a runway in the presence of a maternal food call. Two food calls were used, 1 made to a highly preferred food item (a mealworm) and 1 made to a less preferred food item (chick crumbs). Chicks initially approached the food call made to the mealworm faster regardless of reinforcement contingencies, but by the 3rd day of training chicks responded faster to the call that was reinforced. These results indicate that functional experience can modify preexisting response tendencies to food-calling stimuli. The authors discuss the implications of these results for the interpretation of published accounts that chickens use food calls deceptively. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A convenient derivatization method for gas chromatography/mass spectrometric determination of phenmetrazine in urine using 2,2,2-trichloroethyl chloroformate

The present experiment examined the effects of dopamine receptor antagonism on subjects' motivation to seek food. Rats were trained to discriminate between 2 olfactory cues predicting either the presence (S+) or absence (S-) of food reinforcement in the goal box of a straight-arm runway. Rats learned to traverse the alley quickly when presented with the S+ and much more slowly when presented with the S-. Haloperidol pretreatment was unable to alter this pattern of behavior (i.e., rats still ran quickly when presented with the scent that predicted food availability). Thus, it seems that the same dopamine antagonist treatments that have been shown to disrupt food reinforcement do not prevent the food-seeking behavior produced by presentation of food-predictive cues.     

Haloperidol does not affect motivational processes in an operant runway model of food-seeking behavior.

The present experiment examined the effects of dopamine receptor antagonism on subjects' motivation to seek food. Rats were trained to discriminate between 2 olfactory cues predicting either the presence (S+) or absence (S–) of food reinforcement in the goal box of a straight-arm runway. Rats learned to traverse the alley quickly when presented with the S+ and much more slowly when presented with the S–. Haloperidol pretreatment was unable to alter this pattern of behavior (i.e., rats still ran quickly when presented with the scent that predicted food availability). Thus, it seems that the same dopamine antagonist treatments that have been shown to disrupt food reinforcement do not prevent the food-seeking behavior produced by presentation of food-predictive cues. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sociality and social learning in two species of corvids: The pinyon jay (Gymnorhinus cyanocephalus) and the Clark's nutcracker (Nucifraga columbiana).

The hypothesis that social learning is an adaptive specialization for social living predicts that social species should learn better socially than they do individually, but that nonsocial species should not exhibit a similar enhancement of performance under social learning conditions. The authors compared individual and social learning abilities in 2 corvid species: the highly social pinyon jay (Gymnorhinus cyanocephalus) and the less social Clark's nutcracker (Nucifraga columbiana). The birds were tested on 2 different tasks under individual and social learning conditions. Half learned a motor task individually and a discrimination task socially; the other half learned the motor task socially and the discrimination task individually. Pinyon jays learned faster socially than they did individually, but nutcrackers performed equally well under both learning conditions. Results support the hypothesis that social learning is an adaptive specialization for social living in pinyon jays. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Role of atypical exemplars of social and nonsocial superordinate categories within the class inclusion paradigm.

Investigated hierarchical categorization using typical and atypical exemplars from social and nonsocial superordinate categories within the class inclusion paradigm. Ss were 96 male and female children in kindergarten and Grades 2, 4, and 6. Of the 33 stimulus pictures, 9 depicted nonsocial categories (e.g., birds), 18 depicted social occupations more typical of males than females (e.g., doctors), and 6 depicted social roles equally typical of males and females (e.g., parents). Results confirm the findings of M. T. Carson and A. Abrahamson (see record 1977-20805-001) that atypical instances of nonsocial categories significantly reduced inclusion performance. A parallel adverse effect was found for atypical exemplars of the social categories with Ss in the midstage of acquisition. Consistent with E. Rosch's (1973) theoretical framework and the findings of Rosch and C. B. Mervis (see record 1976-06117-001), these results are interpreted to reflect differences in the conceptual breadth of children's hierarchical knowledge structures. (23 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Spaced-trials reward magnitude effects in the rat: Single versus multiple food pellets.

Trained 56 male Charles River hooded rats in a runway with either small- or large-reward magnitude. Both small and large rewards were presented in single- or multiple-pellet form. 1 training trial was given each day for 120 days. Early in training, the large-reward Ss ran faster than those receiving small reward, and the effect was more pronounced in the multiple-pellet condition. Later in training, the small-reward Ss equaled the performance of Ss receiving large reward and even ran somewhat faster in the run section of the alley. The typical extinction effect of greater persistence for small-reward Ss was observed, but only in the goal section. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

"Priming effect" in conventionally reinforced rats.

Ran 15 male albino rats in alleys for water reinforcement with intertrial intervals (ITIs) similar to the intervals typically used in studies of intracranial reinforcement. When deprived over 15 hrs Ss ran faster with very short ITIs (7 sec) than with longer ITIs (95 sec). Comparisons with rats described in other studies running for intracranial reinforcement leads to the conclusion that, regardless of what kind of reinforcer is used, rats run faster for a reinforcer when ITIs are only seconds long rather than over a minute. (17 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Understanding extraverts' enjoyment of social situations: The importance of pleasantness.

Extraversion is a broad, multifaceted trait, yet researchers are still unsure of its defining characteristics. One possibility is that the essential feature of extraversion is the tendency to enjoy social situations. An alternative possibility is that extraversion represents sensitivity to rewards and the tendency to experience pleasant affect. In three studies, participants rated situations that varied on two dimensions: (a) whether they were social or nonsocial and (b) whether they were very pleasant, moderately pleasant, moderately unpleasant, or very unpleasant. Extraverts only rated social situations more positively than introverts did when the situations were pleasant, and extraverts also rated nonsocial situations more positively than introverts did if the situations were pleasant. Thus, the pleasantness of situations was more important than whether they were social or nonsocial in determining extraverts' and introverts' enjoyment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of social comparison on facilitative self-control in young children.

Investigated the effects of social comparison upon 96 4- and 5-yr-old children's subsequent task perseveration, attention to task, and self-confidence. Ss, from a middle-class nursery school, were 6 pairs of boys and 6 pairs of girls for each of 4 experimental conditions. Ss in the negative social comparison condition attended less efficiently to, and expressed less confidence in, their ability to solve a difficult wooden-cube puzzle than did a control group of nonsocial comparison children. The length of task perseveration by Ss in the social comparison groups did not differ significantly, although the negative comparison group persisted as long or longer than the positive, equal, or nonsocial comparison groups. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cardiovascular reactivity during social and nonsocial stressors: Do children's personal goals and expressive skills matter?

The relationships between social competence and cardiovascular reactivity were evaluated in 180 children (ages 8-17; 52% female; 53% Caucasian). Participants performed a social task (Social Competence Interview [SCI]) and 2 nonsocial tasks while reactivity measures were obtained. Social competence was coded from SCI audiotapes. Among adolescents, higher scores on the Acceptance-Affiliation subscale were associated with increased heart rate (HR) and blood pressures and with decreased HR variability during the SCI. Among boys, greater Acceptance-Affiliation scores were associated with increased vascular reactivity during the SCI. During the nonsocial tasks, higher Self-Defensiveness and Expressiveness scores were associated with increased cardiac output and stroke volume among African American children. Personal strivings and expressive skills do matter for understanding cardiovascular responses in children. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Reflection–impulsivity and social reasoning.

28 reflective and 27 impulsive (determined by the Matching Familiar Figures Test) 2nd-grade males (mean IQ, as indexed by the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test, 110.4) were administered a social-reasoning task consisting of 6 social-conflict situations. Measures were taken of the types of responses to conflict that Ss considered to be most appropriate and also of decision latencies. Impulsive Ss considered the responses of yielding and appealing to authority to be appropriate responses to social conflict more frequently than did the reflective Ss, whereas the reflective Ss viewed assertion and physical aggression to be more appropriate than did impulsive Ss. Impulsive Ss also responded somewhat more quickly than the reflective Ss. Teacher ratings on the School Behavior Checklist yielded no differences between the 2 cognitive-style groups on measures of aggression, anxiety, need achievement, extraversion, academic disability, or hostile isolation. The fact that the reflective Ss evidenced a more direct approach than the impulsive Ss on the social-reasoning task is consistent with cognitive-style differences that have been found on nonsocial problem-solving tasks. Findings extend the potential relevance of the reflection–implusivity dimension to social reasoning. (15 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Schizophrenic discrimination learning as a function of aversive social and physical reinforcement.

60 schizophrenics comparable in important psychopathological variables (e.g., Inpatient Multidimensional Psychiatric Rating Scale and the Premorbid History-Phillips Prognostic Rating Scale) to Ss in other similar studies were compared on a discrimination learning task with noxious physical reinforcement (intense white noise at 91–94 db) under experimenter (E)-present conditions with motivational instructions and E-absent conditions with neutral instructions. Aversive reinforcement was delivered on a response contingent basis for avoidance and escape training under both social conditions. Long-term effects were evaluated 3 consecutive learning tasks: before, during, and following the 6 reinforcement conditions. Results provide strong confirmation that social factors in the E–S relationship determine the speed of learning throughout. Regardless of physical punishment or the reinforcement paradigm (avoidance or escape), Ss learned significantly faster in the E's presence with motivational instructions both during and after the reinforcement phase. The theoretical implications of what is called biological motivation were found to be insufficient grounds for ordering the data. (19 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The effects of social and nonsocial censure on stimulus generalization in neurotics and schizophrenics.

36 schizophrenic and 36 neurotic depressive Ss were given a visual-spatial generalization task under either social or nonsocial (impersonal) censure conditions. The following hypotheses derived from previous investigations were tested: (1) schizophrenics would show higher gradients of generalization than neurotic depressives, and (2) generalization gradients would be higher under conditions of social as opposed to nonsocial censure, especially in schizophrenics. The data supported Hypothesis 1 but not Hypothesis 2. There was no evidence for differential responding between these 2 groups with respect to either stimulus generalization or response to censure. It was suggested that hypotheses concerning the schizophrenic's performance in these 2 situations have been biased and oversimplified by use of normal, rather than patient, control groups in previous investigations. (22 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Task-relevant information, social reinforcement, and race as factors affecting performance.

Hypothesized that lower-class blacks, who have been found to have an external control orientation to their environment, would be more responsive to social reinforcements in a skill task than in a chance task situation. Conversely, it was expected that middle-class whites, who have been shown typically to maintain interval control orientations, would be more responsive to social reinforcements in a chance task than in a skill task situation. 48 male 5th and 6th graders (24 lower-class blacks and 24 middle-class whites) were assigned to social reinforcement and control conditions. The independent variables, social reinforcement, type of task, and ethnic group of Ss were used in a 3 * 2 * 2 analysis of variance. Results confirm the original hypotheses. (French summary) (16 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The social and cognitive value of preschool toys and activities.

Observed 24 male and 18 female preschoolers (mean age 3.8 yrs) during free play to examine (a) the 10 most preferred free play activities in a preschool setting, (b) the social and cognitive values of the toys and activities, and (c) sex differences in the use of materials. Results show that (a) the most frequently occurring activities included cutting and pasting, painting and crayoning, sand and water, and books; (b) activities engaged in in a nonsocial functional fashion were less complex and mature than those used in a nonsocial constructive fashion; and (c) females engaged in more art work and less block and vehicle play than males, thus indicating a lack of change in toy preference across sexes over a period of more than 40 yrs. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Expectancy effects in social stereotyping: Automatic and controlled processing in the Neely paradigm.

This research attempted to extend the classic cognition study, Neely (1977), to the domain of social stereotypes. Neely demonstrated the existence of automatic and controlled processing in the same paradigm and the differing effects these processes have on accessing category information. The current research extended these findings by using social groups and stereotypes as stimuli, rather than nonsocial categories. Participants were told to expect characteristics of the Black stereotype following the prime CHINESE, characteristics of the Chinese stereotype following the prime BLACK, and characteristics of the criminal stereotype following the prime CRIMINAL. These expectancies were true most of the time. Participants then completed a lexical decision task in which SOA was manipulated (250 vs. 2,000 ms). Participants responded faster to semantically related targets (i.e., stereotypes) in the 250-ms SOA condition, regardless of their explicit expectancies. In the 2,000-ms SOA condition, participants responded faster to expected targets than to unexpected targets, regardless of whether or not the targets were semantically related to the primes. When the data from the two conditions were combined, the expectancy effect remained whereas the semantic relation effect did not. Results are discussed in terms of the automatic and controlled processing of social stimuli, and the importance of understanding expectancies in social stereotyping. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Modulation of the action control system by social intention: Unexpected social requests override preplanned action.

Four experiments investigated the influence of a sudden social request on the kinematics of a preplanned action. In Experiment 1, participants were requested to grasp an object and then locate it within a container (unperturbed trials). On 20% of trials, a human agent seated nearby the participant unexpectedly stretched out her arm and unfolded her hand as if to ask for the object (perturbed trials). In the remaining 3 experiments, similar procedures were adopted except that (a) the human was replaced by a robotic agent, (b) the gesture performed by the human agent did not imply a social request, and (c) the gaze of the human agent was not available. Only when the perturbation was characterized by a social request involving a human agent were there kinematic changes to the action directed toward the target. Conversely, no effects on kinematics were evident when the perturbation was caused by the robotic agent or by a human agent performing a nonsocial gesture. These findings are discussed in the light of current theories proposed to explain the effects of social context on the control of action. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cognitive biases in generalized social phobia.

Judgmental biases for threat-relevant stimuli are thought to be important mechanisms underlying the etiology and maintenance of anxiety disorders. The authors hypothesized (a) that people with generalized social phobia (GSP) would rate negative social events but not nonsocial events as more probable and costly than would nonanxious controls (NACs) and (b) that cognitive behavioral treatment would decrease probability and cost estimates for social but not nonsocial events. Participants with GSP and NACs were assessed twice, 14 weeks apart, during which the former received cognitive behavioral therapy. Those with GSP evidenced socially relevant judgmental biases prior to treatment, and these were attenuated following treatment. Reduction in cost estimates for social events, but not in probability estimates, mediated improvement in social phobia. Results are discussed in light of emotional processing theory. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

When girls versus boys play alone: Nonsocial play and adjustment in kindergarten.

The goal of the present study was to examine the relations between different forms of children's nonsocial play behaviors and adjustment in kindergarten. The participants in this study were 77 kindergarten children (38 boys, 39 girls; mean age?=?66.16 months, SD?=?4.11 months). Mothers completed ratings of child shyness and emotion dysregulation. Children's nonsocial play behaviors (reticent, solitary-passive, solitary-active) were observed during free play. In addition, teachers rated child behavior problems (internalizing and externalizing) and social competence; academic achievement was assessed through child interviews. Results from regression analyses revealed that different types of nonsocial play were differentially associated with child characteristics and indices of adjustment. For some forms of nonsocial play, the nature of these associations differed significantly for boys and girls. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)