Social uncertainty in the digital world.

The social world is inherently uncertain. We present a computational framework for thinking about how increasingly popular online environments modulate the social uncertainty we experience, depending on the type of social inferences we make. This framework draws on Bayesian inference, which involves combining multiple informational sources to update our beliefs.

Do humans prefer cognitive effort over doing nothing?

Humans and other animals find mental (and physical) effort aversive and have the fundamental drive to avoid it. However, doing nothing is also aversive. Here, we ask whether people choose to avoid effort when the alternative is to do nothing at all. Across 12 studies, participants completed variants of the demand selection task, in which they repeatedly selected between a cognitively effortful task (e.g., simple addition, Stroop task, and symbol-counting task) and a task that required no effort (e.g., doing nothing, watching the computer complete the Stroop, and symbol-viewing). We then tabulated people's choices. Across our studies and an internal meta-analysis, we found little evidence that people choose to avoid effort (and hints that people sometimes prefer effort) when the alternative was doing nothing. Our findings suggest that doing nothing can be just as costly-if not more costly-than exerting effort. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Reliability of the empathy selection task, a novel behavioral measure of empathy avoidance.

The empathy selection task is a novel behavioral paradigm designed to assess an individual's willingness to engage in empathy. Work with this task has demonstrated that people prefer to avoid empathy when some other activity is available, though individual differences that might predict performance on this task have been largely unexamined. Here, we assess the suitability of the empathy selection task for use in individual difference and experimental research by examining its reliability within and across testing sessions. We compare the reliability of summary scores on the empathy selection task (i.e., proportion of empathy choices) as an individual difference metric to that of two commonly used experimental tasks, the Stroop error rate and go/no-go commission rate. Next, we assess systematic changes at the item/trial level using generalized multilevel modeling which considers participants' individual performance variation. Across two samples (N = 89), we find that the empathy selection task is stable between testing sessions and has good/substantial test-retest reliability (ICCs = .65 and .67), suggesting that it is comparable or superior to other commonly used experimental tasks with respect to its ability to consistently rank individuals.

RISK FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH YOLK SAC RETENTION IN CAPTIVE-BRED HUMBOLDT PENGUIN (SPHENISCUS HUMBOLDTI) CHICKS.

Multiple occurrences of yolk sac retention prompted a retrospective investigation in a recently formed colony of captive Humboldt penguins (Spheniscus humboldti). Necropsy reports of 141 parent-reared penguin chicks that died between January 2014 and December 2018 were reviewed for evidence of yolk sac retention, defined as the presence of a yolk sac at postmortem examination of a chick aged 7 d or greater, and analyzed by demographic and pathological variables for identification of risk factors. Fifty-nine (65%) chicks that died at age 7 d or greater had a retained yolk sac at postmortem examination, revealing that this was a common condition in penguins in this population. Chicks that retained their yolk sac were also more likely to present with minimal gut contents (P = 0.02), have a prominent bursa of Fabricius (P < 0.01), and be the first chick hatched of their clutch (P = 0.02). Parental experience and age were not predictive of yolk sac retention, but there was a trend for chicks with retained yolk sacs to present with a poorer body condition, reduced weight, and reduced crown-rump length compared to chicks without a retained yolk sac. Histopathological and bacteriological findings of retained yolk sacs were not significantly different from those of chicks under 7 d of age. Although likely to be multifactorial, the association between yolk sac retention and indicators of suboptimal feed intake and growth (empty gastrointestinal tract, poor body condition score, decreased crown-rump length, and decreased weight at death) is hypothesized to be a result of parental neglect, leading to starvation and absorption arrest of the yolk, as previously indicated in broiler chicks.

Zoo-housed mammals do not avoid giving birth on weekends.

There is evidence that zoo visitor presence can influence the behaviour and, in some cases, adrenal response of zoo animals, and can sometimes compromise animal welfare. In some laboratory studies, significantly more primate births have been reported on weekends, when fewer people are working there, compared with weekdays when staffing levels are at their highest. Here, we investigate whether there is evidence of a "weekend effect" on births in zoo animals as a result of visitor numbers. Unlike laboratories, zoos are typically busier with visitors on weekends than on weekdays, although staffing levels remain fairly consistent across days of the week. If zoo animal parturition is sensitive to human presence, then fewer births would be expected on weekends compared with weekdays. We tested this using birth data and visitor numbers on the entrance gate from zoo records across 16 species representing artiodactyls, perissodactyls, carnivores and primates at four British zoos, to see whether there is an association between mean daily birth rates and average visitor numbers. We predict that, if there is a visitor effect, daily births should be lower on weekends than weekdays and should correlate with mean daily visitor numbers. Results showed that births for all 16 species were randomly distributed through the week, and there was no significant decline in births on weekends. We conclude that the "weekend effect", if such a thing exists, does not appear to be a feature of zoo births, suggesting that elevated weekend visitor numbers are not sufficiently stressful to trigger delayed parturition.

The effect of visitors on the behavior of zoo-housed western lowland gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla).

Primates, especially apes, are popular with the public, often attracting large crowds. These crowds could cause behavioral change in captive primates, whether positive, neutral, or negative. We examined the impact of visitors on the behavior of six western lowland gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla), observing the troop over 6 weeks during high season (4.5 hr/day, 35 days, May-July 2016). We used focal scan sampling to determine activity budget and enclosure usage, and focal continuous sampling to identify bouts of anxiety-related behavior (visitor-directed vigilance, self-scratching, and aggression). Both daily zoo-entry numbers (VGATE ) and instantaneous crowds at the exhibit (VDENSITY ) were measured. Overall, VGATE had little effect across behaviors. However, consistent with the more acute time frame of measurement, VDENSITY was a better predictor of behavior; at high crowd volumes, we observed significant group-level changes in activity budget (increased inactivity, increased locomotion, and decreased environment-related behaviors), increase in some anxiety-related behaviors, and decreased enclosure usage. Although contributing similar effects, it could not be determined if crowd numbers, composition, or noise most affected the troop, nor any chronic effects of exposure to large crowds. Nevertheless, our findings suggest that measures to minimize the impacts of large crowds at the exhibit would be beneficial. Furthermore, we highlight potential discrepancies between common methods for measuring visitor numbers: VGATE is less sensitive to detecting visitor effects on behavioral indices than VDENSITY . Future studies should appropriately match the biological time frame of welfare indicators and visitor measures used to ensure the reliability of findings.

Evidence for diversity in the activation of the melanocortin 2 receptor: A study on gar, elephant shark and stingray MC2Rs.

The melanocortin-2 receptor (MC2R) is a critical component of the HPI and HPA axes of cartilaginous fishes, teleosts and tetrapods. Studies on teleost and tetrapod orthologs suggest two contact sites between ACTH and the receptor involving the following motifs on ACTH: H6F7R8W9 and K15K16R17R18P19. Using spotted gar (g) MC2R as a representative bony fish MC2R ortholog, we found that activation of gMC2R in Chinese Hamster Ovary (CHO) cells was diminished following stimulation of the transfected cells with hACTH(1-24) analogs substituted with alanine at either the H6F7R8W9 or K15K16R17R18P19 motifs compared to stimulation with hACTH(1-24). This observation suggests two ligand contact sites necessary for activation of the gMC2R. The same experiments were done with elephant shark (es) MC2R, however only the H6F7R8W9 analogs blocked activation, pointing to a single contact on esMC2R. Conversely, the red stingray (sr) MC2R activation was blocked by both the H6F7R8W9 and K15K16R17R18P19 alanine-substituted analogs. Together these results build a picture of the evolution of the ligand and receptor interaction between ACTH and MC2R orthologs of different taxa. These results will be discussed in light of the parallel evolution of MC2R orthologs in cartilaginous fishes and bony vertebrates.

Empathy is hard work: People choose to avoid empathy because of its cognitive costs.

Empathy is considered a virtue, yet it fails in many situations, leading to a basic question: When given a choice, do people avoid empathy? And if so, why? Whereas past work has focused on material and emotional costs of empathy, here, we examined whether people experience empathy as cognitively taxing and costly, leading them to avoid it. We developed the empathy selection task, which uses free choices to assess the desire to empathize. Participants make a series of binary choices, selecting situations that lead them to engage in empathy or an alternative course of action. In each of 11 studies (N = 1,204) and a meta-analysis, we found a robust preference to avoid empathy, which was associated with perceptions of empathy as more effortful and aversive and less efficacious. Experimentally increasing empathy efficacy eliminated empathy avoidance, suggesting that cognitive costs directly cause empathy choice. When given the choice to share others' feelings, people act as if it is not worth the effort. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Hungry for more: key stakeholders' support for more stringent school food policies.

OBJECTIVE: School food policies are an important component of comprehensive strategies to address child obesity and improve children's health. Evaluations have demonstrated that these policies can be initially well accepted and appropriately implemented, however little is known about how acceptance levels may change over time. The present study aimed to re-evaluate a school food policy 10 years after its introduction to assess key stakeholders' support for various policy extensions that would strengthen the scope of the policy. DESIGN: Online surveys administered 1 year after policy introduction (n 607, 2008) and 10 years after policy introduction (n 307, 2016). SETTING: Western Australia.ParticipantsSchool principals, teachers, canteen managers and presidents of parents & citizens associations from Western Australian Government primary schools. RESULTS: At both time points, and especially at time 2 (10 years post policy implementation), high levels of support were reported for the policy and possible policy extensions. Support was strongest for an additional requirement to integrate the canteen menu with the classroom health curriculum. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that once a policy has become embedded into school practices, stakeholders may be receptive to modifications that strengthen the policy to enhance its potential effects on children's diets.

Objective assessment of compliance with a state-wide school food-service policy via menu audits.

OBJECTIVE: The Healthy Food and Drink Policy was implemented in Western Australian government schools in 2007. The aim of the present study was to assess the compliance of Western Australian school canteen menus with the policy a decade after its introduction. DESIGN: The traffic-light system that underpins the Healthy Food and Drink Policy categorises foods and drinks into three groups: 'green' healthy items, 'amber' items that should be selected carefully and 'red' items that lack nutritional value. Canteen menus were collected online and each menu item was coded as a green, amber or red choice. SETTING: Western Australia.ParticipantsOnline canteen menus from 136 primary and secondary government schools. RESULTS: The majority of audited school menus met policy requirements to include ≥60 % green items (84 %) and ≤40 % amber items (90 %), but only 52 % completely excluded red items. Overall, approximately half (48 %) of school canteen menus met all three traffic-light targets. On average, 70 % of the menu items were green, 28 % were amber and 2 % were red. Primary-school canteen menus were more likely than those from secondary schools to meet the requirements of the policy. CONCLUSIONS: While the sampled Western Australian government school canteen menus were highly compliant with most of the requirements of the Healthy Food and Drink Policy, many offered red foods and/or drinks. Providing all schools with further education about identifying red items and offering additional services to secondary schools may help improve compliance rates.

Practice of therapy acquired regulatory skills and depressive relapse/recurrence prophylaxis following cognitive therapy or mindfulness based cognitive therapy.

BACKGROUND: To investigate whether usage of treatment-acquired regulatory skills is associated with prevention of depressive relapse/recurrence. METHOD: Remitted depressed outpatients entered a 24-month clinical follow up after either 8 weekly group sessions of cognitive therapy (CT; N = 84) or mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT; N = 82). The primary outcome was symptom return meeting the criteria for major depression on Module A of the SCID. RESULTS: Factor analysis identified three latent factors (53% of the variance): decentering (DC), distress tolerance (DT), and residual symptoms (RS), which were equivalent across CT and MBCT. Latent change score modeling of factor slopes over the follow up revealed positive slopes for DC (ß = .177), and for DT (ß = .259), but not for RS (ß = -.017), indicating posttreatment growth in DC and DT, but no change in RS. Cox regression indicated that DC slope was a significant predictor of relapse/recurrence prophylaxis, Hazard Ratio (HR) = .232 90% Confidence Interval (CI) [.067, .806], controlling for past depressive episodes, treatment group, and medication. The practice of therapy-acquired regulatory skills had no direct effect on relapse/recurrence (ß = .028) but predicted relapse/recurrence through an indirect path (ß = -.125), such that greater practice of regulatory skills following treatment promoted increases in DC (ß = .462), which, in turn, predicted a reduced risk of relapse/recurrence over 24 months (ß = -.270). CONCLUSIONS: Preventing major depressive disorder relapse/recurrence may depend upon developing DC in addition to managing residual symptoms. Following the acquisition of therapy skills during maintenance psychotherapies, DC is strengthened by continued skill utilization beyond treatment termination. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Comparison of the nutritional content of the captive and wild diets of the critically endangered mountain chicken frog (Leptodactylus fallax) to improve its captive husbandry.

It is vital to provide appropriate nutrition to maintain healthy populations in conservation breeding programs. Knowledge of the wild diet of a species can be used to inform captive diet formulation. The nutritional content of the wild diet of the critically endangered mountain chicken frog (Leptodactylus fallax) is unknown, like that of most amphibians. In this study, we analyzed the nutritional content of food items that comprise 91% of the wild diet of L. fallax, by dry weight of food items, and all food items offered to captive L. fallax at ZSL London Zoo and Jersey Zoo. We subsequently compared the nutritional content of the wild diet and captive diet at ZSL London Zoo consumed by L. fallax. To the authors' knowledge, this is the first study to directly compare the nutritional content of the wild and captive diets of an anuran amphibian. The captive diet at ZSL London Zoo, without dusting of nutritional supplements, was higher in gross energy and crude fat and lower in ash, calcium and calcium:phosphorus ratio than the wild diet. Most of the food items in the captive diets had a high omega-6:omega-3 fatty acid ratio and in the wild diet had a low omega-6:omega-3 fatty acid ratio. We recommend a combination of modifications to the captive diets to better reflect the nutritional content of the wild diet. Nutritional analysis of captive and wild diets is recommended for other species in conservation breeding programs to improve captive husbandry and ultimately fitness.

Stakeholder perceptions of a school food policy ten years on.

OBJECTIVE: To assess (i) the extent to which stakeholders have accepted and implemented a Healthy Food and Drink Policy for schools a decade after its introduction and (ii) any resulting implications for canteen profitability. DESIGN: Online survey distributed via electronic newsletter to school principals. SETTING: Western Australian public schools. SUBJECTS: Principals, teachers, canteen managers, and parents and citizens committee presidents (n 307). RESULTS: Large majorities of respondents reported that the policy has made the foods and drinks provided in schools healthier (85 %) and that the policy constitutes a good opportunity to teach children about healthy eating (90 %). Only small proportions of respondents felt it had been difficult to implement the policy in their schools (13 %) or that the policy fails to accommodate parents' rights to choose the foods consumed by their children (16 %). Most of the policy outcomes assessed in both the initial post-implementation evaluation (2008) and the 10-year follow-up evaluation (2016) demonstrated significant improvement over time. CONCLUSIONS: The study results indicate that comprehensive school food policies can favourably influence the foods and drinks provided on school premises and can be highly acceptable to key stakeholders, without adversely affecting profitability. The results are encouraging for policy makers in other jurisdictions considering the implementation of similar policies.

Prevention of relapse/recurrence in major depressive disorder with either mindfulness-based cognitive therapy or cognitive therapy.

OBJECTIVE: Both Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) and Cognitive Therapy (CT) enhance self-management of prodromal symptoms associated with depressive relapse, albeit through divergent therapeutic procedures. We evaluated rates of relapse in remitted depressed patients receiving MBCT and CT. Decentering and dysfunctional attitudes were assessed as treatment-specific process markers. METHOD: Participants in remission from Major Depressive Disorder (MDD; N = 166) were randomized to 8 weeks of either MBCT (N = 82) or CT (N = 84) and were followed for 24 months, with process markers measured every 3 months. Attendance in both treatments was high (6.3/8 session) and treatment fidelity and competence were evaluated. Relapse was defined as a return of symptoms meeting the criteria for major depression on Module A of the Structured Clinical Interview for Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (SCID). RESULTS: Intention-to-treat analyses indicated no differences between MBCT and CT in either rates of relapse to MDD or time to relapse across 24 months of follow up. Both groups experienced significant increases in decentering and participants in CT reported greater reductions in dysfunctional attitudes. Within both treatments, participants who relapsed evidenced lower decentering scores than those who stayed well over the follow up. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first study to directly compare relapse prophylaxis following MBCT and CT directly. The lack of group differences in time to relapse supports the view that both interventions are equally effective and that increases in decentering achieved via either treatment are associated with greater protection. These findings lend credence to Teasdale et al.'s (2002) contention that, even though they may be taught through dissimilar methods, CT and MBCT help participants develop similar metacognitive skills for the regulation of distressing thoughts and emotions. (PsycINFO Database Record

On the prospect of knowing: Providing solutions can reduce persistence.

Our willingness to persist in problem solving is often held up as a critical component in being successful. Allied against this ability, however, are a number of situational factors that undermine our persistence. In the present investigation, the authors examine 1 such factor-knowing that the answers to a problem are easily accessible. Does having answers to a problem available reduce our willingness to persist in solving it ourselves? Across 4 experiments, participants (university students from a large Canadian University) solved multisolution anagrams and were either provided the answers after giving up (and knew they would receive the answers) or not. Results demonstrated that individuals persisted for less time in the former condition. In addition, participants did not seem to be aware of the effect that answers had on their decisions to quit. Implications for our understanding of the role that access to answers has on persistence across a number of domains (e.g., education, Internet) are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record

Rolling Circle Mutagenesis of GST-mCherry to Understand Mutation, Gene Expression, and Regulation.

Undergraduates are often familiar with textbook examples of human mutations that affect coding regions and the subsequent disorders, but they may struggle with understanding the implications of mutations in the regulatory regions of genes. We have designed a laboratory sequence that will allow students to explore the effect random mutagenesis can have on protein function, expression, and ultimately phenotype. Students design and perform a safe and time-efficient random mutagenesis experiment using error-prone rolling circular amplification of a plasmid expressing the inducible fusion protein glutathione S-transferase (GST)-mCherry. Mutagenized and wild-type control plasmid DNA, respectively, are then purified and transformed into bacteria to assess phenotypic changes. While bacteria transformed with the wild type control should be pink, some bacterial colonies transformed with mutagenized plasmids will exhibit a different color. Students attempt to identify their mutations by isolating plasmid from these mutant colonies, sequencing, and comparing their mutant sequence to the wild-type sequence. Additionally, students evaluate the potential effects of mutations on protein production by inducing GST-mCherry expression in cultures, generating cell lysates, and analyzing them using SDS-PAGE. Students who have a phenotypic difference but do not obtain a coding region mutation will be able to think critically about plasmid structure and regulation outside of the gene sequence. Students who do not obtain bacterial transformants have the chance to contemplate how mutation of antibiotic resistance genes or replication origins may have contributed to their results. Overall, this series of laboratories exposes students to basic genetic techniques and helps them conceptualize mutation beyond coding regions.

Answers at your fingertips: Access to the Internet influences willingness to answer questions.

Recent technological advances have given rise to an information-gathering tool unparalleled by any in human history-the Internet. Understanding how access to such a powerful informational tool influences how we think represents an important question for psychological science. In the present investigation we examined the impact of access to the Internet on the metacognitive processes that govern our decisions about what we "know" and "don't know." Results demonstrated that access to the Internet influenced individuals' willingness to volunteer answers, which led to fewer correct answers overall but greater accuracy when an answer was offered. Critically, access to the Internet also influenced feeling-of-knowing, and this accounted for some (but not all) of the effect on willingness to volunteer answers. These findings demonstrate that access to the Internet can influence metacognitive processes, and contribute novel insights into the operation of the transactive memory system formed by people and the Internet.

Training with robot-applied resistance in people with motor-incomplete spinal cord injury: Pilot study.

UNLABELLED: People with motor-incomplete spinal cord injury (m-iSCI) can recover basic walking function but still have difficulty performing the skilled walking required for everyday environments. We hypothesized that a robotic-based gait rehabilitation strategy founded on principles of motor learning would be a feasible and potentially effective approach for improving skilled walking in people with m-iSCI. Fifteen individuals with chronic (>1 yr) m-iSCI were randomly allocated to body weight-supported treadmill training (BWSTT) with Lokomat-applied resistance (Loko-R) or conventional Lokomat-assisted BWSTT (Control). Training sessions were 45 min, 3 times/week for 3 mo. Tolerance to training was assessed by ratings of perceived exertion and reports of pain/soreness. Overground skilled walking capacity (Spinal Cord Injury-Functional Ambulation Profile [SCI-FAP]), as well as walking speed and distance were measured at baseline, posttraining, and 1 and 6 mo follow-up. Our results indicate that Loko-R training could be feasibly applied for people with m-iSCI, although participants in Loko-R tended to report higher levels of perceived exertion during training. Participants in the Loko-R group performed significantly better in the SCI-FAP than Control at posttraining and in follow-up assessments. This study provides evidence that Loko-R training is feasible in people with m-iSCI. Furthermore, there is preliminary evidence suggesting that Loko-R may help improve performance in skilled overground walking tasks. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov; NCT00610974. "Enhancing Walking in People With Incomplete Spinal Cord Injury: a Pilot Study"; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00610974.

Sinking slowly: Diversity in propensity to trust predicts downward trust spirals in small groups.

This paper examines the phenomenon of trust spirals in small groups. Drawing on literature on the spiral reinforcement of trust, we theorize that diversity in propensity to trust has affective and cognitive consequences related to trust (i.e., feelings of frustration and perceptions of low similarity), reducing the level of experienced intragroup trust early in a group's development. Reduced experienced trust then fuels relationship conflict and lowers trust even further over time, ultimately having a negative effect on group performance. These ideas are tested using a sample of MBA student groups surveyed at 3 time periods over 4 months. Results confirm our hypothesis that diversity in propensity to trust is sufficient to trigger a downward trust spiral and poor performance in small groups.