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Male–male competition is a well-known driver of reproductive success and sexually selected traits in many species. However, in some species, males work together to court females or defend territories against male competitors. Dominant (nesting) males sire most offspring, but subordinate (satellite) males are better able to obtain fertilizations relative to unpartnered males. Because satellites only gain reproductive success by sneaking, there has been much interest in identifying the mechanisms enforcing satellite cooperation (defense) and reducing satellite sneaking. One such potential mechanism is outside competition: unpartnered satellites can destabilize established male partnerships and may force partnered satellites to restrain from cheating to prevent the dominant male from replacing them with an unpartnered satellite. Here, we manipulated perceived competition in the Mediterranean fish Symphodus ocellatus by presenting an “intruding” satellite male to established nesting and satellite male pairs. Focal satellite aggression to the intruder was higher when focal satellites were less cooperative, suggesting that satellites increase aggression to outside competitors when their social position is less stable. In contrast, nesting male aggression to the intruder satellite increased as spawning activity increased, suggesting that nesting males increase their defense toward outside competitors when their current relationship is productive. We found no evidence of altered spawning activity or nesting/satellite male interactions before and after the presentation. These results collectively suggest that response to outside competition is directly linked to behavioral dynamics between unrelated male partners and may be linked to conflict and cooperation in ways that are similar to group-living species.

With the tremendous growth in online classes and programs at institutions of higher education, conflicting claims are increasingly being made on media and blog sites about the personality types that are compatible with this new learning format. The relations between the Five Factor Model of Personality (FFM) and linguistic styles with measures of academic performance in fully online asynchronous classes were examined. Consistent with findings based on research in face-to-face classes, Conscientiousness, Openness to Experience, and Analytic Thinking were associated with academic success. There was no support for the views propagated on the internet that extraversion, introversion, or anxiety hinder or foster online learning. The most robust predictor of academic performance throughout the semester, independent of the personality variables, was the number of words students contributed to the online discussions. These finding are interpreted within the Community of Inquiry framework (CoI; Garrison, 2003) and future lines of research are suggested. © 2020 Elsevier Inc.

Alcohol (ethanol) use is almost normative by late adolescence, in most western countries. It is important to identify factors that distinguish those who progress from alcohol initiation to sustained use of the drug, from those that keep a controlled pattern of drinking. The factors precipitating this transition may change across development. This study analyzed associations between behavioral endophenotypes and ethanol intake at three developmental periods. Exp. 1 measured ethanol drinking at postnatal day 18, via an intraoral infusion procedure, in male or female pre-weanling rats screened for anxiety response in the light-dark box test and for distance traveled in a novel open field. Exp. 2 measured, in juvenile/adolescent or young adult rats, the association between shelter seeking, exploratory/risk-taking behaviors, anxiety or hedonic responses, and ethanol intake. Ethanol intake in pre-weanlings was explained by distance traveled in a novel environment, whereas anxiety responses, measured in the multivariate concentric square field apparatus (MSCF), selectively predicted ethanol intake at adolescence, but not at adulthood. Those juvenile/adolescents with lower mean duration of visit to areas of the MSCF that evoke anxiogenic responses exhibited heightened ethanol intake. These findings suggest that the association between anxiety and ethanol intake may be specifically relevant during adolescence. © 2020 Wiley Periodicals LLC

This study examines how across-trial (average) and trial-by-trial (variability in) amplitude and latency of the N400 event-related potential (ERP) reflect temporal integration of pitch accent and beat gesture. Thirty native English speakers viewed videos of a talker producing sentences with beat gesture co-occurring with a pitch accented focus word (synchronous), beat gesture co-occurring with the onset of a subsequent non-focused word (asynchronous), or the absence of beat gesture (no beat). Across trials, increased amplitude and earlier latency were observed when beat gesture was temporally asynchronous with pitch accenting than when it was temporally synchronous with pitch accenting or absent. Moreover, temporal asynchrony of beat gesture relative to pitch accent increased trial-by-trial variability of N400 amplitude and latency and influenced the relationship between across-trial and trial-by-trial N400 latency. These results indicate that across-trial and trial-by-trial amplitude and latency of the N400 ERP reflect temporal integration of beat gesture and pitch accent during language comprehension, supporting extension of the integrated systems hypothesis of gesture-speech processing and neural noise theories to focus processing in typical adult populations. Copyright © 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

To better explain daily fluctuations in physical activity and sedentary behavior, investigations of motivation are turning from social cognitive frameworks to those centered on affect, emotion and automaticity, such as the Affect and Health Behavior Framework (AHBF), Integrated Framework and Affective-Reflective Theory (ART). This shift has necessitated: (a) re-examination of older theories and their constructs, such as drives, needs and tensions and (b) an inspection of competing theories from other fields that also attempt to explain dynamic changes in health behaviors. The Dynamical Model of Desire, Elaborated Intrusion Theory and others commonly share with AHBF the idea that human behavior is driven strongly by desires and/or the similar concepts of wants, urges, and cravings. These affectively-charged motivation states (ACMS) change quickly and may better explain physical activity behavior from one moment to the next. Desires for movement predominantly derive from negative but also positive reinforcement. Data from clinical populations with movement dysfunction or psychiatric disorders provides further evidence of these drivers of movement. Those with Restless Legs Syndrome, akathisia, tic disorders and exercise dependence all report strong urges to move and relief when it is accomplished. Motor control research has identified centers of the brain responsible for wants and urges for muscular movement. Models elaborated herein differentiate between wants, desires, urges and cravings. The WANT model (Wants and Aversions for Neuromuscular Tasks) conceptualizes desires for movement and rest as varying by magnitude, approach or avoidance-orientation (wants versus aversions) and as occupying independent dimensions instead of opposite ends of the same axis. For instance, one hypothetically might be in a state of both high desire for movement and rest simultaneously. Variations in motivation states to move and rest may also be associated with various stress states, like freezing or fight and flight. The first validated instrument to measure feelings of desire/want for movement and rest, the CRAVE Scale (Cravings for Rest and Volitional Energy Expenditure) is already shedding light on the nature of these states. With these advances in theory, conceptual modeling and instrumentation, future investigations may explore the effects of desires and urges for movement and sedentary behavior in earnest. Copyright © 2020 Stults-Kolehmainen, Blacutt, Bartholomew, Gilson, Ash, McKee and Sinha.

The three-dimensional graphic method for quantifying body position is a series of observer procedures and computer programs designed to yield three-dimensional (height, width, and depth) coordinates for various body points. These coordinates can be graphed by computer in several different ways, and can be analyzed mathematically to provide information about a wide variety of variables, including interpersonal distance and body activity. The procedure for collecting and analyzing the data is explained and the computer programs developed for the method are described. © 1976 Psychonomic Society, Inc.

In attempting to derive the minimal component of the Poggendorff figure which would still produce an illusion, responses to three types of transversal were measured. One was the customary solid line type; a second type presented the two segments sequentially, alternating between them; and the third consisted of a moving dot which traveled the transversal path. Each transversal was shown with and without verticals, for a total of six conditions. Ten subjects in each condition adjusted the luminous transversal until the segments appeared to be collinear. Figures with verticals present showed a greater magnitude of illusion than those without, and discrepancies for moving dot transversals were greater than those for comparable solid line figures. Since alternating transversals were not significantly larger than solid line figures, it was concluded that the magnitude of the moving dot effect could not be attributed to temporal sequence. An eyemovement hypothesis was suggested instead. © 1977 Psychonomic Society, Inc.

The inappropriate constancy scaling notion of geometric illusions was explored by employing a textural analogue of the Ponzo figure. Ten Ss estimated the length of a horizontal line by equating it with varying companion lines in the context of the Ponzo figure, a textural analogue, and a baseline control in which the lines appeared with no surrounding contours. The textural analogue had the added feature of imposing no contours at the ends of the horizontal lines. It was found that length estimates were significantly different between the horizontals of the Ponzo figure and control stimuli, but not between the texture figure and a context-free control. The results suggest that inappropriate constancy scaling plays a minor role at best in the perception of geometric illusions. © 1973 Psychonomic Society, Inc.

Assessed the effects of transgression on self-aggression and depression in 96 high school students. Male confederates induced 1/2 of the Ss to transgress by deceiving the E. As a measure of self-aggression all Ss gave themselves electric shocks of intensity which they personally selected. Ss were also given behavioral and subjective-report measures of depression, including the Mood Adjective Check List. Transgressing Ss showed significantly more self-aggression. Transgressing Ss also showed changes on behavioral measures of depression but not on subjective-report measures. Females showed significantly more self-aggression than males regardless of condition. Findings suggest that the altruistic behavior found to occur after transgression may be engaged in for its self-punitive aspect as well as, or rather than as, a means of social restitution, as has been previously suggested. Contrary to the suggestion of some theories of depression, self-punishment did not appear to alleviate depression. (21 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved). © 1973 American Psychological Association.

A field experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of communicator-recipient similarity and verbal communication upon the attitudes and behavior of pregnant women. Similarity was varied on two dimensions, pregnancy and color; and these factors were crossed with three communication conditions: (1) information on the advantages of rooming-in and breast feeding; (2) information combined with personal endorsement; and (3) no-information control. Both a pilot study and the main experiment showed no important differences in the amount of attitude change or behavioral compliance between the communication conditions. There were also no significant differences in attitude change as a function of similarity in pregnancy. However, a significantly higher proportion of mothers breast fed and roomed-in when the communicator was pregnant and similar than when she was nonpregnant and dissimilar. Similarity in color had no effect upon attitudes or behavior for the topic of rooming-in. But when the communicator was dissimilar in color there was significant negative change in attitudes toward breast feeding. Similarity in color also increased breast feeding. Attitudes and actions were related; mothers with initially favorable attitudes were more likely to comply for both issues. But with only one exception, attitude change was unrelated to behavioral compliance. The results are discussed in terms of visible similarity as a source of information or cues for action. © 1972.

Proposed that the cue of relative size may facilitate depth perception in accordance with a crossed or uncrossed disparity in stereograms in which both tendencies are equally represented. A concurrent concept was that the latency associated with the perception of depth in random-dot stereograms may be due, in part, to a cue conflict between binocular disparity and relative size. 4 male and 2 female graduate students were given 8 presentations of 5 stereographic stimuli, in which disparity was ambiguous but relative size was systematically altered. Ss were tested for direction of depth preferences and response latency. Both the relative-size effects and an uncrossed disparity bias were evidenced in the data. The latter effect was attributed to binocular rivalry between dissimilar elements in the stereoscopic half-fields. It is concluded that depth cue relationships are more complex than had been suggested by simple dominance theories. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved). © 1971 American Psychological Association.

A tutoring program for first grade inner city children, employing student teachers as tutors, was developed and evaluated. Tutoring had no discernible effects on performance on the Illinois Test of Psycholinguistic Ability. However, tutored children were placed in the highest reading group, and were rated by the regular classroom teacher as having completed the first grade reading series more often than controls. Tutors saw their children as becoming more responsive over time. Classroom teachers rated the tutored children as more competent in the classroom, more confident, and as viewing the classroom as more benevolent. In contrast to controls, student teachers maintained favorable attitudes toward teaching in the inner city, and they claimed to have benefited in practice teaching from their tutoring experience. However, relatively few actually took teaching positions in inner city schools after completing their training. © 1972 Behavioral Publications, Inc.

Distinguishes between legal, ethical, and egalitarian principles involving hospitalization of persons alleged to be mentally ill. With regard to the question of legality, the need for compilation and distribution of relevant information and for informing patients of their rights is discussed. The boundaries of psychologists' professional and personal ethics are viewed as helping patients obtain services which they are personally unable to provide and insuring that the welfare of the patient is placed before the interests of the institution. Egalitarian issues are discussed with regard to: (a) judging whether a mental patient is responsible for his words and actions; (b) the patient's right to accept, reject, or select treatment; and (c) hospitalization of general medical patients and their rights to be informed about their condition, to be notified of test results, and to know the name, quantity, and expected reaction to drugs they are given. It is suggested that psychologists have too long been silent on these issues and in the face of abuses, and that more discussion and stands on them are needed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved). © 1970 American Psychological Association.