The dimensions of personality in humans and other animals: A comparative and evolutionary perspective

This paper considers the structure and proximate mechanisms of personality in humans and other animals. Significant similarities were found between personality structures and mechanisms across species in at least two broad traits: Extraversion and Neuroticism. The factor space tapped by these personality dimensions is viewed as a general integrative framework for comparative and evolutionary studies of personality in humans and other animals. Most probably, the cross-species similarities between the most broad personality dimensions like Extraversion and Neuroticism as well as other Big Five factors reflect conservative evolution: constrains on evolution imposed by physiological, genetic and cognitive mechanisms. Lower-order factors, which are more species- and situation-specific, would be adaptive, reflecting correlated selection on and trade-offs between many traits

Ecologically-Based Management of Rodent Pests

Farm Management,

Reading a story. Different degrees of learning in different learning environments

he learning environment in which material is acquired may produce differences in delayed recall and in the elements that individuals focus on. These differences may appear even during development. In the present study, we compared three different learning environments in 450 normally developing 7-year-old children subdivided into three groups according to the type of learning environment. Specifically, children were asked to learn the same material shown in three different learning environments: reading illustrated books (TB); interacting with the same text displayed on a PC monitor and enriched with interactive activities (PC-IA); reading the same text on a PC monitor but not enriched with interactive narratives (PC-NoIA). Our results demonstrated that TB and PC-NoIA elicited better verbal memory recall. In contrast, PC-IA and PCNoIA produced higher scores for visuo-spatial memory, enhancing memory for spatial relations, positions and colors with respect to TB. Interestingly, only TB seemed to produce a deeper comprehension of the story's moral. Our results indicated that PC-IA offered a different type of learning that favored visual details. In this sense, interactive activities demonstrate certain limitations, probably due to information overabundance, emotional mobilization, emphasis on images and effort exerted in interactive activities. Thus, interactive activities, although entertaining, act as disruptive elements which interfere with verbal memory and deep moral comprehensio

Exploring The Impact Of Configuration And Mode Of Input On Group Dynamics In Computing

Objectives: Large displays and new technologies for interacting with computers offer a rich area for the development of new tools to facilitate collaborative concept mapping activities. In this thesis, WiiConcept is described as a tool designed to allow the use of multiple WiiRemotes for the collaborative creation of concept maps, with and without gestures. Subsequent investigation of participants' use of the system considers the effect of single and multiple input streams when using the software with and without gestures and the impact upon group concept mapping process outcomes and interactions when using a large display. Methods: Data is presented from an exploratory study of twenty two students who have used the tool. Half of the pairs used two WiiRemotes, while the remainder used one WiiRemote. All pairs created one map without gestures and one map with gestures. Data about their maps, interactions and responses to the tool were collected. Results: Analysis of coded transcripts indicates that one-controller afforded higher levels of interaction, with the use of gestures also increasing the number of interactions seen. Additionally, the result indicated that there were significantly more interactions of the 'shows solidarity', 'gives orientation', and 'gives opinion' categories (defined by the Bales' interaction processes assessment), when using one-controller as opposed to two. Furthermore, there were more interactions for the 'shows solidarity', 'tension release', 'gives orientation' and 'shows tension' categories when using gestures as opposed to the non-use of gestures. Additionally, there were no significant differences in the perceived dominance of individuals, as measured on the social dominance scales, for the amount of interaction displayed, however, there was a significant main effect of group conversational control score on the 'gives orientation' construct, with a higher number of interactions for low, mixed and high scores of this type when dyads had one-controller as opposed to two-controllers. There was also a significant interaction effect of group conversational control score on the 'shows solidarity' construct with a higher number of interactions for all scores of this type when dyads had one-controller as opposed to two-controllers. The results also indicate that for the WiiConcept there was no difference between number of controllers in the detail in the maps, and that all users found the tool to be useful for the collaborative creation of concept maps. At the same time, engaging in disagreement was related to the amount of nodes created with disagreement leading to more nodes being created. Conclusions: Use of one-controller afforded higher levels of interaction, with gestures also increasing the number of interactions seen. If a particular type of interaction is associated with more nodes, there might also be some argument for only using one-controller with gestures enabled to promote cognitive conflict within groups. All participants responded that the tool was relatively easy to use and engaging, which suggests that this tool could be integrated into collaborative concept mapping activities, allowing for greater collaborative knowledge building and sharing of knowledge, due to the increased levels of interaction for one-controller. As research has shown concept mapping can be useful for promoting the understanding of complex ideas, therefore the adoption of the WiiConcept tool as part of a small group learning activity may lead to deeper levels of understanding. Additionally, the use of gestures suggests that this mode of input does not affect the amount of words, nodes, and edges created in a concept map. Further research, over a longer period of time, may see improvement with this form of interaction, with increased mastery of gestural movement leading to greater detail of conceptual mapping

Neural correlates without reduction: the case of the critical period

Researchers in the cognitive sciences often seek neural correlates of psychological constructs. In this paper, I argue that even when these correlates are discovered, they do not always lead to reductive outcomes. To this end, I examine the psychological construct of a critical period and briefly describe research identifying its neural correlates. Although the critical period is correlated with certain neural mechanisms, this does not imply that there is a reductionist relationship between this psychological construct and its neural correlates. Instead, this case study suggests that there may be many-to-many psychological-neural mappings, not just one-to-one or even one-to-many relations between psychological kinds and types of neural mechanisms

Rodent Biology and Management; Abstracts of papers presented at the International Conference on Rodent Biology and Management, held at Beijing, China, 5-9 October 1998

Farm Management,

Neuroplastic Changes Following Brain Ischemia and their Contribution to Stroke Recovery: Novel Approaches in Neurorehabilitation

Ischemic damage to the brain triggers substantial reorganization of spared areas and pathways, which is associated with limited, spontaneous restoration of function. A better understanding of this plastic remodeling is crucial to develop more effective strategies for stroke rehabilitation. In this review article, we discuss advances in the comprehension of post-stroke network reorganization in patients and animal models. We first focus on rodent studies that have shed light on the mechanisms underlying neuronal remodeling in the perilesional area and contralesional hemisphere after motor cortex infarcts. Analysis of electrophysiological data has demonstrated brain-wide alterations in functional connectivity in both hemispheres, well beyond the infarcted area. We then illustrate the potential use of non-invasive brain stimulation (NIBS) techniques to boost recovery. We finally discuss rehabilitative protocols based on robotic devices as a tool to promote endogenous plasticity and functional restoration

Neurogenesis Drives Stimulus Decorrelation in a Model of the Olfactory Bulb

The reshaping and decorrelation of similar activity patterns by neuronal networks can enhance their discriminability, storage, and retrieval. How can such networks learn to decorrelate new complex patterns, as they arise in the olfactory system? Using a computational network model for the dominant neural populations of the olfactory bulb we show that fundamental aspects of the adult neurogenesis observed in the olfactory bulb -- the persistent addition of new inhibitory granule cells to the network, their activity-dependent survival, and the reciprocal character of their synapses with the principal mitral cells -- are sufficient to restructure the network and to alter its encoding of odor stimuli adaptively so as to reduce the correlations between the bulbar representations of similar stimuli. The decorrelation is quite robust with respect to various types of perturbations of the reciprocity. The model parsimoniously captures the experimentally observed role of neurogenesis in perceptual learning and the enhanced response of young granule cells to novel stimuli. Moreover, it makes specific predictions for the type of odor enrichment that should be effective in enhancing the ability of animals to discriminate similar odor mixtures