Level 2 perspective-taking distinguishes automatic and non-automatic belief-tracking

Little is known about whether human beings’ automatic mindreading is computationally restricted to processing a limited kind of content, and what exactly the nature of that signature limit might be. We developed a novel object-detection paradigm to test adults’ automatic processing in a Level 1 perspective-taking (L1PT) context (where an agent’s belief, but not his visuospatial perspective, is relevantly different) and in a Level 2 perspective-taking (L2PT) context (where both the agent’s belief and visuospatial perspective are relevantly different). Experiment 1 uncovered that adults’ reaction times in the L1PT task were helpfully speeded by a bystander’s irrelevant belief when tracking two homogenous objects but not in the L2PT task when tracking a single heterogeneous object. The limitation is especially striking given that the heterogeneous nature of the single object was fully revealed to participants as well as the bystander. The results were replicated in two further experiments, which confirmed that the selective modulation of adults’ reaction times was maintained when tracking the location of a single object (Experiment 2) and when attention checks were removed (Experiment 3). Our findings suggest that automatic mindreading draws upon a distinctively minimalist model of the mental that underspecifies representation of differences in perspective relative to an agent’s position in space

The curious case of adults’ interpretations of violation-of-expectation false belief scenarios

The interpretations of infants’ non-verbal responses in violation-of-expectation (VOE) false belief scenarios are subject to intense theoretical debate. In Experiment 1, adults provided online narratives for VOE scenarios meant to tap understanding of false beliefs about object location, perception and identity. Adults provided cognitively-oriented narratives for the location scenario when instructed to track beliefs and, for this scenario only, participants evaluated the unexpected outcome as unexpected and the expected outcome as expected. Adults had mixed views about the perception scenario, and judged the identity scenario where the agent acted in violation of his belief as being reasonable. Experiment 2 confirmed that when the identity scenario was turned into an action task that was time-pressured, adults failed to act in a belief-based manner. We should be cautious in drawing firm conclusions about mentalizing in infancy when adults’ narratives and estimates of the expectedness of outcome events suggest that only certain VOE scenarios were interpreted in their intended fashion

Reaction time profiles of adults’ action prediction reveal two mindreading systems

Human beings are able to quickly step into others’ shoes to predict peoples’ actions. There is little consensus over how this cognitive feat might be accomplished. We tested the hypotheses that an efficient, but inflexible, mindreading system gives rise to appropriate reaction time facilitation in a standard unexpected transfer task, but not in a task involving an identity component. We created a new behavioural paradigm where adults had to quickly select whether an actor would reach, or not reach, for an object based on the actor’s false belief about the object’s location. By manipulating the type of object we compared participants’ responding behaviour when they did and did not have to take the actor’s perspective into account. While the overall accuracy reflected a high level of flexible belief reasoning across both tasks, the pattern of response times across conditions revealed a limit in the processing scope of an efficient mindreading system. Thus, we show, for the first time, that there are indeed different profiles of reaction times for object-location scenarios and for object-identity scenarios. The results elevate growing evidence that adult humans have not one, but two mindreading systems for dealing with mental states that underlie action

Visibly constraining an agent modulates observers' automatic false-belief tracking

Our motor system can generate representations which carry information about the goals of another agent's actions. However, it is not known whether motor representations play a deeper role in social understanding, and, in particular, whether they enable tracking others' beliefs. Here we show that, for adult observers, reliably manifesting an ability to track another's false belief critically depends on representing the agent's potential actions motorically. One signature of motor representations is that they can be disrupted by constraints on an observed agent's action capacities. We therefore used a `mummification' technique to manipulate whether the agent in a visual ball-detection task was free to act or whether he was visibly constrained from acting. Adults' reaction times reliably reflected the agent's beliefs only when the agent was free to act on the ball and not when the agent was visibly constrained from acting. Furthermore, it was the agent's constrained action capabilities, rather than any perceptual novelty, that determined whether adult observers' reaction times reliably reflected the agent's beliefs. These findings signal that our motor system may underpin more of social cognition than previously imagined, and, in particular, that motor representations may underpin automatic false-belief tracking

Investigating food preference in zoo‐housed meerkats

Understanding food preference among animals in human care can support improvements to welfare through training and day‐to‐day care (e.g., diet management). Little has been published about food preference in zoo‐housed meerkats. Assessing meerkat food preference would be useful, not only for the welfare of that species, but also for developing approaches to assessing food preference in other grouphoused, social species. The specific aim of this study was to quantify food preference within the meerkat mob at Wellington Zoo. We developed a simple, cost‐effective method for characterizing the food preference hierarchy in meerkats by presenting pairs of foods to the mob as a group. We observed stable preference with the hierarchy for pups closely resembling that for adults. This study demonstrated that it is possible to assess food preference and identify a food preference hierarchy for a group of animals from a social species where it was neither practical nor appropriate to assess individuals' preferences separately

Third Annual Families and Neighborhoods Network Update

Welcome to the Third Annual Families and Neighborhoods Network Update. In this edition, which focuses on Family Development, you'll find plenty of relevant, interesting news, as well as diversity and spirituality in the context of family development.As always, we strive to provide information and resources regarding human service efforts that support families and neighborhoods. The selection of information and articles for this issue of the Network Update was based on issues raised by the seven Comprehensive Community-BasedModels (CCBMs).Among the highlights of this issue is an article by Dr. Susan Stern and Cassandra Clay, professors at Boston University School of Social Work. In their article, titled "Supporting Children and Families in a Caring Community," they challenge our thinking about family development, while guiding practitioners, policymakers, fund providers, and grassroots community-based organizations into the next century.Also in this issue, you'll find two annotated bibliographies that explore community-based, family centered strategies for integrating education and human services. These bibliographies also present practical ways to design policies that reflect the importance of the family in the development of children and society. As an additional resource, you'll also find a directory of federally-funded resource centers and clearinghouses that compile information on child andfamily welfare, health, and education issues.This issue of the Network Update also offers a personal glimpse of the seven W.K. Kellogg Foundation-funded family development sites. Each of the sites was asked to share its definition of family development, and to specify how that definition translates into services or opportunities for families. Staff members at the seven sites also were asked to discuss their philosophies about family development and how that philosophy differs from a mainstream view. Their thought provoking answers are just a few pages away

What is the diagnostic accuracy of novel urine biomarkers for urinary tract infection?

Background: Urinary tract infection (UTI) affects half of women at least once in their lifetime. Current diagnosis involves urinary dipstick and urine culture, yet both methods have modest diagnostic accuracy, and cannot support decision-making in patient populations with high prevalence of asymptomatic bacteriuria, such as older adults. Detecting biomarkers of host response in the urine of hosts has the potential to improve diagnosis. Objectives: To synthesise the evidence of the diagnostic accuracy of novel biomarkers for UTI, and of their ability to differentiate UTI from asymptomatic bacteriuria. Design: A systematic review. Data Sources and Methods: We searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL and Web of Science for studies of novel biomarkers for the diagnosis of UTI. We excluded studies assessing biomarkers included in urine dipsticks as these have been well described previously. We included studies of adult patients (≥16 years) with a suspected or confirmed urinary tract infection using microscopy and culture as the reference standard. We excluded studies using clinical signs and symptoms, or urine dipstick only as a reference standard. Quality appraisal was performed using QUADAS-2. We summarised our data using point estimates and data accuracy statistics. Results: We included 37 studies on 4009 adults measuring 66 biomarkers. Study quality was limited by case-control design and study size; only 4 included studies had a prospective cohort design. IL-6 and IL-8 were the most studied biomarkers. We found plausible evidence to suggest that IL-8, IL-6, GRO-a, sTNF-1, sTNF-2 and MCR may benefit from more rigorous evaluation of their potential diagnostic value for UTI. Conclusions: There is insufficient evidence to recommend the use of any novel biomarker for UTI diagnosis at present. Further evaluation of the more promising candidates, is needed before they can be recommended for clinical use

Crop Updates 2003 - Geraldton

This session covers twenty eight papers from different authors Seasonal Outlook: What is in store for 2003, David Stephens, Department of Agriculture Examining The Management Options For Wheat Crops In The Coming Season, James Fisher, Department of Agriculture GMO’s – what do they offer? Ian Edwards, Grain Bio Tech Australia Pty Ltd The Big Gamble – Wheat prices for 2003, Dennis Wise, Profarmer Market outlook for other grains, Andrew Young, General Manager Agricorp Stripe rust – where to now for the WA wheat industry? Robert Loughman, Ciara Beard and Greg Shea, Department of Agriculture Baudin and Hamlin – new generation of malting barley developed in Western Australia, Blakely Paynter, Roslyn Jettner and Kevin Young, Department of Agriculture DBM in Canola, Kevin Walden, Department of Agriculture The latest on Lupin diseases, Geoff Thomas, Department of Agriculture Wheat variety performance in 2002 compared to the long term, Robin Wilson, Iain Barclay, Robyn McLean, Robert Loughman, Jenny Garlinge, Bill Lambe, Neil Venn and Peter Clarke, Department of Agriculture Do wide rows drought proof lupins on red loam? Martin Harries, Bob French, Wayne Parker and Murray Blyth, Department of Agriculture Do wide rows drought proof lupins on a sandy loam? Martin Harries, Bob French, Wayne Parker and Murray Blyth, Department of Agriculture Profit Proving Precision Agriculture, Peter Norris, Agronomy For Profit, Greg Lyle, CSIRO Land and Water, Yuna Farm Improvement Group Annual ryegrass seedbanks: the good, the bad, and the ugly, Kathryn Steadman, University of Western Australia, Amander Ellery, CSIRO Plant Industry, Sally C Peltzer, Department of Agriculture Wheat management packages for low rainfall areas, Kari-Lee Falconer, Department of Agriculture Ground water 1. Atrazine, Russell Speed, Department of Agriculture Groundwater 2. Current Trends, Russell Speed, Department of Agriculture Herbicide tolerance of wheat, lupins and pastures, Terry Piper and Harmohinder Dhammu, Department of Agriculture Farming with Tramlines, Bindi Webb, Paul Blackwell, Department of Agriculture, Phil Logue, Binnu, Nigel Moffat, Geraldton, Rohan Ford, Binnu, Miles Obst, Mingenew, The role of green manure crops in renovating poor performing paddocks: What’s it worth? Frances Hoyle, Leanne Schulz and Judith Devenish Department of Agriculture The looming threat of wild radish, Peter Newman, Department of Agriculture Does one ‘size’ fit all? Grant Morrow, Syngenta Crop Protection Climate Forecasts on the Internet, Ian Foster and David Stephens, Department of Agriculture Moisture delving = more reliable lupin establishment, Paul Blackwell, and Wayne Parker, Department of Agriculture Tramline Designs for better Weed control and Wheat value from non-spraying tramlines in a dry season, Paul Blackwell, Bindi Webb and Darshan Sharma, Department of Agriculture Biserrula Grazing Trial, Marnie Thomas, Department of Agriculture Performance of IT and TT canola varieties in the medium and high rainfall agzones of W.A., 2001-02, Graham Walton, Hasan Zaheer and Paul Carmody, Department of Agriculture Rapid Catchment Appraisal in Northern Agricultural Region, Mike Clarke, Paul Raper, Department of Agricultur

Minimal mindreaders let spinning dogs lie: New evidence for the dual-process account of human mindreading

Five experiments investigated evidence for a dual-process account of mindreading (Apperly, 2010). This account is motivated by two puzzles: First, why is it that three-year-olds fail standard false-belief tests when looking patterns infer that infants are sensitive to others’ false beliefs? Secondly, why is adult mindreading sometimes slow and effortful, and at other times fast and effortless? The seemingly contradictory observations may be explained by drawing upon two relatively distinct mindreading abilities: ‘Efficient’ processing supports precocious infant performances in non-verbal tasks and fast-paced social interaction in adults, while the later developing ‘flexible’ processing permits full blown understanding of beliefs and facilitates correct verbal responding in standard false-belief tests. Evidence for this theory can be sought by exploiting the idea that there are ‘signature limits’ to the type of information that can be efficiently processed. One conjecture is that representations underpinning efficient belief-tracking relate agents to objects, leading to the prediction that efficient processing cannot handle false-beliefs involving identity. Experiments 1 and 2 used a novel action-prediction paradigm to determine if adults’ reaction-time patterns differed between two false-belief tasks, one involving a standard change-of-location scenario, and one which also incorporated an identity component. The findings revealed equivalent flexible processing across both tasks. However, there were distinct reaction-time profiles between the tasks such that efficient belief-tracking was only observed in the change-of-location task. The absence of efficient processing in the task incorporating an identity component supports the conjecture that efficient belief-tracking is limited to relational, rather than propositional attitudes. A second conjecture is that representations underpinning efficient belief-tracking either do not specify agents’ locations or do not specify objects’ orientations. This leads to the prediction that efficient belief-tracking alone will not yield expectations about agents’ perspectives. In a novel object-detection paradigm, Experiments 3 to 5 tested the extent to which adults efficiently tracked the belief of a passive bystander in two closely-matched but conceptually distinct tasks. In a task involving homogenous objects, reaction times were involuntarily influenced by the presence of the bystander. By contrast, in a second task in which the object could be differently perceived depending on where the agent was located in relation to that object, the presence of the agent did not influence adults’ response times, supporting the second conjecture

Minimal mindreaders let spinning dogs lie: New evidence for the dual-process account of human mindreading

Five experiments investigated evidence for a dual-process account of mindreading (Apperly, 2010). This account is motivated by two puzzles: First, why is it that three-year-olds fail standard false-belief tests when looking patterns infer that infants are sensitive to others’ false beliefs? Secondly, why is adult mindreading sometimes slow and effortful, and at other times fast and effortless? The seemingly contradictory observations may be explained by drawing upon two relatively distinct mindreading abilities: ‘Efficient’ processing supports precocious infant performances in non-verbal tasks and fast-paced social interaction in adults, while the later developing ‘flexible’ processing permits full blown understanding of beliefs and facilitates correct verbal responding in standard false-belief tests. Evidence for this theory can be sought by exploiting the idea that there are ‘signature limits’ to the type of information that can be efficiently processed.  One conjecture is that representations underpinning efficient belief-tracking relate agents to objects, leading to the prediction that efficient processing cannot handle false-beliefs involving identity. Experiments 1 and 2 used a novel action-prediction paradigm to determine if adults’ reaction-time patterns differed between two false-belief tasks, one involving a standard change-of-location scenario, and one which also incorporated an identity component. The findings revealed equivalent flexible processing across both tasks. However, there were distinct reaction-time profiles between the tasks such that efficient belief-tracking was only observed in the change-of-location task. The absence of efficient processing in the task incorporating an identity component supports the conjecture that efficient belief-tracking is limited to relational, rather than propositional attitudes.  A second conjecture is that representations underpinning efficient belief-tracking either do not specify agents’ locations or do not specify objects’ orientations. This leads to the prediction that efficient belief-tracking alone will not yield expectations about agents’ perspectives. In a novel object-detection paradigm, Experiments 3 to 5 tested the extent to which adults efficiently tracked the belief of a passive bystander in two closely-matched but conceptually distinct tasks. In a task involving homogenous objects, reaction times were involuntarily influenced by the presence of the bystander. By contrast, in a second task in which the object could be differently perceived depending on where the agent was located in relation to that object, the presence of the agent did not influence adults’ response times, supporting the second conjecture.</p