Social facilitation of pecking and drinking in “satiated” chickens

Pecking in chickens is a ubiquitous response that does not appear to be exclusively linked to any single motivational state. Because of this, certain earlier findings are ambiguous regarding the extent to which socially mediated pecking in chickens extends to theories of social facilitation effects. In the current research, drinking was identified as a possible alternative response for the study of socially mediated consummatory behavior in chickens. Tests of satiated subjects paired with deprived companions (or tested alone) showed that the pattern and relative amount of the social facilitation of drinking conformed exactly to the pattern for pecking. Therefore, it was concluded that socially enhanced consummatory behavior in the chicken can bear on theories of social facilitation.     

Social facilitation of drinking of a partially satiated duckling

Water-deprived and nondeprived ducklings were reintroduced to a flock companion which had been allowed to partially satiate itself after 3 h of water deprivation. The drinking and sieving behavior of the partially satiated “reactor” bird was immediately increased above that of similar birds left on their own. However, whether or not the introduced “actor” ducklings were deprived had no consequences for the drinking response of the reactor above that obtained by their introduction. The number of companions introduced also failed to have any effect other than that obtained by their introduction. The increase in sieving was greater when deprived, rather than nondeprived, actors were introduced. These results were discussed in relation to the motivational aspects of sieving behavior and the mechanism of social facilitation.     

Required pecking and refraining from pecking alter judgments of time by pigeons

There is evidence that humans' perception of time is affected by the activity in which they are engaged while they are timing. The more demanding the task, the faster time appears to pass. A similar effect has been found in pigeons. Pigeons trained to discriminate between a short-duration (2-sec) and a long-duration (10-sec) stimulus were required to peck when the stimulus was one color and to refrain from pecking when it was a different color. On probe trials of intermediate durations, the bisection point (50% choice of the stimulus associated with both long and short stimuli) for trials in which the pigeons were required to peck was almost 1 sec longer than on trials in which the pigeons were required to refrain from pecking (Zentall, Friedrich, & Clement, 2006). In the present research, we replicated this effect and determined the relation between this effect and the typical bisection point that occurs when pecking is permitted but not required. Results indicated that the typical procedure results in a bisection point that is between required pecking and refraining from pecking. Furthermore, the rate of pecking when pecking is allowed but not required also falls between the rate of pecking for the required-pecking and refrain-from-pecking conditions. This result suggests that, similar to humans, pigeons underestimate the passage of time when they are active or when attention to time-related cues has to be shared with attention to satisfying the response requirement.     

Transfer of performance to new comparison choices following differential outcome matching-to-sample

Four experiments examined transfer of differential outcome performances to new choice responses in pigeons. Experiments 1A and 1B showed that new responses trained off a matching-to-sample baseline readily substituted for the choice alternatives in differential outcome matching, provided that they shared the same outcome associations as the alternatives they replaced. Experiment 2 showed that comparison responses trained on baseline, but in a task in which their different outcomes occurred equally often following each sample (viz., one-to-many matching), substituted for the choices in a standard, differential outcome task. Experiment 3 showed, somewhat surprisingly, that the choices in the latter task were likewise effective substitutes in one-to-many matching. These results pose separate challenges for standard two-process theory and for the bidirectional account of differential outcome performance, and they suggest other cues that pigeons may use to predict outcomes.     

Effect of a conspecific’s presence on deprived rats’ Performance: Social facilitation vs distraction/imitation

The present study investigated effects of (a) conspecific’s “mere presence” and (b) water deprivation on emission of dominant responses by rats. Zajonc (1965) suggests that a conspecific’s presence functions like a physiologically based drive in enhancing performance of dominant responses. Alternative interpretations suggest that a conspecific’s presence impairs performance by distracting the observer or eliciting imitation of “irrelevant” responses. The social facilitation vs distraction/imitation hypotheses were tested in a 2 by 2 design: Barpress-trained rats, deprived of water for 4 or 23 h, barpressed for water in the presence of a naive rat or alone. Results supported social facilitation theory: Performance was significantly higher when the conspecific was present rather than absent and when the responder was 23 h rather than 4 h deprived. In reconciling these data with conflicting results, it was suggested that degree of contact may be important in determining how a conspecific’s presence affects performance of dominant responses.     

Transfer of facilitation in the rat

In two experiments, rats solved two concurrent discrimination problems in which one stimulus (i.e., a facilitator) signaled the reinforcement of another stimulus (i.e., a target). Then a transfer test assessed the capacity of facilitators trained in one problem to promote responding to targets trained in the other. Experiment 1 found that a facilitator promoted as much responding to such a transfer target as to the target with which it was originally trained. Transfer was not obtained with a pseudofacilitator that was uninformative, in training, about the reinforcement of its target. Experiment 2 manipulated the stimulus modality of the targets and facilitators. Its results indicated that transfer performance was not due to generalization between training and transfer targets or facilitators. These results parallel those from comparable autoshaping paradigms with pigeons, and they agree with the view that facilitators promote responding by lowering the threshold for activation of the US representation.     

Family rearing antecedents of pubertal timing

Two general evolutionary hypotheses were tested on 756 White children (397 girls) studied longitudinally: (1) rearing experiences would predict pubertal timing; and (2) children would prove differentially susceptible to rearing. Analysis of pubertal measurements, including some based on repeated physical assessments, showed that mothering and fathering, earlier and later in childhood, predicted pubertal development, but only for girls, with negative parenting appearing most influential; maternal harsh control predicted earlier menarche. Rearing effects varied by infant negative emotionality, proving stronger (and opposite) for girls who in infancy were lower rather than higher in negativity. Maternal menarche, controlled in all analyses, was a stronger predictor than rearing. Findings are discussed in terms of theory development, genetic and nutritional influences, and sample restrictions.     

Modification of chicks’ pecking preferences: Food imprinting or instrumental conditioning?

Using Hess’ technique, 35 small groups of chicks of age 2–3 days or beyond were reinforced in training with food for pecking at one visual stimulus (S+) and nonreinforced for pecking at another (S?) and subsequently tested in extinction. In training, pecking was strongly conditioned to S+, but in testing, both number of pecks to and preference for S+ declined as in instrumental conditioning, contrary to Hess’ original report. Results are discussed relative to studies exposing chicks to actual food objects, where an imprinting-like phenomenon has been found.     

The facilitation of selective attention in preschoolers

Allocation of attention was examined on a selective attention task in which some items were relevant (i.e., their locations should be remembered) and some were irrelevant. 100 4- and 5-year-olds formed 4 experimental conditions and 1 control group. 3 experimental groups had 1 added feature to aid selectivity (fewer stimuli, increased perceptual salience of the difference between relevant and irrelevant stimuli, or extra reminders of the locations of relevant and irrelevant stimuli). The fourth experimental condition included all features. A story and explicit instructions identified which objects were relevant. During study times, children opened doors (marked with cages or houses) of a box to reveal animals or household objects. Selectivity (opening mainly relevant doors) was high, compared to previous studies using no story with 6-year-olds, even in the control condition. Selectivity increased significantly beyond the level in the control condition only when all facilitative features were combined. Selectivity was not significantly related to recall. This outcome, in conjunction with previous research, suggests a lag between the production of a strategy and its facilitative effect on recall.     

中学生人际交往中的情感教育--一项调查引起的思考

一、中学生的情感饥渴人际交往是健康的心理得以维持和发展的必要途径 ,也是当代中学生最感困惑的三大问题之一。有些中学生由于不能处理好与同学之间的关系 ,使其原本认同于同辈群体的心理不能找到认同的对象而感到孤独、失落 ,严重地影响了他们身心的健康发展。人际交往的根本在于满足人的需要。研究中学生人际交往中的需要问题能使我们理解中学生的交往行为 ,更好地帮助他们处理人际关系 ,这对促进他们身心健康发展是极其有利的。为此 ,我们对初、高中学生人际交往动机进行了开放性问卷调查。结果见表 1:表 1　中学生人际交往需要的类型…     

Leader noticing of facilitation in videocases of mathematics professional development

In this article, we report on Researching Mathematics Leader Learning (RMLL), a project designed to support leaders in learning how to facilitate robust opportunities for teachers’ mathematical learning. Our two-phase research design allowed us to construct a set of videocase seminars, enact the seminar design with leaders, analyze these data, refine our seminar design, and implement a second set of seminars with a new group of leaders. We drew on the noticing literature to examine leaders’ pedagogical reasoning as they discussed videocases of professional development. In this article, we demonstrate how changes in our framework for leader development and the resulting changes in the prompts and tasks shaped leader noticing in three ways: (a) accounting for the mathematical work of the facilitator and teachers in the videocase; (b) linking the mathematical work to goals for teacher learning; and (c) reasoning around the facilitator’s work in advancing those learning goals. Analysis indicates that in Phase II, leader discussions were more focused on the mathematical and pedagogical work needed to advance teacher learning. Based on our research and development work with over 70 leaders, we offer a set of design principles for leader professional development.     

Phonological decoding enhances orthographic facilitation of vocabulary learning in first graders

Reading and Writing - An experiment examined orthographic facilitation of vocabulary learning, that is, whether showing students spellings of novel words during learning helps them remember the...     

Transfer of inhibition and facilitation mediated by the original target stimulus

An autoshaping paradigm with pigeon subjects was used to study two-types-of modulation: facilitation and inhibition. In each paradigm, a diffuse stimulus signaled when a keylight would be reinforced. Transfer of that diffuse stimulus to a different keylight was assessed after the response-evoking power of the original keylight had been altered in the presence of a different modulator. That alteration of the original target produced a specific change in the transfer of modulators trained with that target. The results are interpreted as suggesting that transfer to another target stimulus is partly mediated by the association of the original target with the reinforcer. They are inconsistent with at least one version of a configurai cue interpretation.     

Discriminated and nondiscriminated avoidance conditioning of the rearing response in rats

Experiment 1 employed a shock box in which light beams ran at 10, 15, 20, or 25 cm above the floor level of the box. Four groups of nine rats each were trained to avoid shock by cutting the light beams or letting them pass by, which the animal accomplished by upward or downward change of its posture. Training employed a discriminated avoidance paradigm, 60 trials per day for 5 days, with a 5-sec CS-US interval. Acquisition of the rearing avoidance response was observed only in the 15-cm condition. Using the same apparatus as in Experiment 1 and with a beam height of 15 cm, the rearing avoidance response was successfully conditioned in five rats using a nondiscriminated avoidance conditioning paradigm. There was good evidence of temporal discrimination in these animals.     

Preferential approach to conspecifics as a function of different rearing conditions

Forty-six White Leghorn chicks were tested at 48 h posthatch to determine their ability to discriminate and preferentially respond to individual companions and strangers. In the first experiment, socially reared chicks showed no preference when allowed a simultaneous choice between either a familiar or an unfamiliar socially reared chick. In the second experiment, socially reared chicks preferred (p = .012) an unfamiliar socially reared chick to an unfamiliar chick reared in isolation. In the third experiment, chicks reared in isolation preferred (p = .036) a socially reared chick to an isolation-reared chick. Results indicate that chicks 48 h old respond to others on the basis of behavioral as well as morphological characteristics.     

Child rearing and children's prosocial initiations toward victims of distress.

Maternal rearing behavior was examined in relation to children's reparation for transgressions and altruism as bystanders to distress in others. The children were 1 1/2-2 1/2 years old. Mothers were trained in techniques of observing. They recorded their child's reactions and their own behaviors in everyday encounters with expressions of distress in others (sorrow, discomfort, pain). Distress was also simulated by mothers and investigators. Mothers' empathic caregiving was rated during home visits. Mothers' affectively delivered explanations regarding the distresses their children had caused to others were associated with children's reparations for transgressions. Such explanations were also associated with children's altruism when they were bystanders to another's distress. Empathic caregiving by mothers was positively associated with children's reparation and altruism. Findings are discussed in relation to theories of altruism, conscience, and child rearing.     

The impact of culture upon child rearing practices and definitions of maltreatment

OBJECTIVE: The aim of the present study was to assess the relationship between a childhood history of abuse that a parent may have experienced and the cultural beliefs/factors that an individual may subscribe to with current parenting behaviors and attitudes. It was hypothesized that cultural factors would be more predictive of parenting behaviors and attitudes than ethnicity as a demographic label. METHOD: Using a survey design, 150 parents of Hispanic, African American and European American descent participated. Participants completed the Conflict Tactics Scale, a Familism Scale, a Machismo Scale, a Valuing Children Scale, the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire, and assigned seriousness ratings to vignettes depicting child maltreatment. RESULTS: A history of childhood abuse was found to be predictive of the use of both physical and verbal punishment by mothers, but not for fathers. Cultural factors/beliefs were predictive of fathers' parenting behaviors, but not mothers'. Ethnicity, as a demographic variable, continued to be a significant predictor of parenting behaviors and attitudes for all parents, controlling for cultural factors. DISCUSSION: The present study adds to our understanding of diverse parenting styles, of definitions of child abuse and neglect, and of ethnicity. The findings indicate that ethnicity is a complex factor, one demanding further examination with regard to its components.