Digit Ratio as a Predictor of Risk Taking and Sensation Seeking Personality Traits and Behaviors

Digit ratio is the difference in length between the pointer finger and the ring finger on either hand. Commonly referred to as the 2D:4D ratio, this ratio is determined prior to birth, and serves as an indicator of prenatal hormone exposure. Digit ratio has been found to correlate with fundamental personality and behavior characteristics in adulthood. Digit ratio is also thought to be a determinate of sexual orientation in both men and women, but has been debated in the literature. This study examined multiple 2D:4D relationships. Men who were found to have a more masculinized (ie. lower) digit ratio had significantly higher rates of overall sensation seeking, boredom susceptibility, disinhibition, experience seeking, and lifetime drug behaviors. We found no significant relationships between 2D:4D ratio and behaviors in females. Similarly, we found no relationship between digit ratio and sensation seeking, impulsive, or risky personality traits either. Digit ratio bad no relationship with sexual orientation, nor on number of older brothers. Overall, our findings suggest that there is a significant relationship between a masculinized digit ratio and certain sensation seeking and risk taking behaviors in men

Digit Ratio as a Predictor of Risk Taking and Sensation Seeking Personality Traits and Behaviors

Digit ratio is the difference in length between the pointer finger and the ring finger on either hand. Commonly referred to as the 2D:4D ratio, this ratio is determined prior to birth, and serves as an indicator of prenatal hormone exposure. Digit ratio has been found to correlate with fundamental personality and behavior characteristics in adulthood. Digit ratio is also thought to be a determinate of sexual orientation in both men and women, but has been debated in the literature. This study examined multiple 2D:4D relationships. Men who were found to have a more masculinized (ie. lower) digit ratio had significantly higher rates of overall sensation seeking, boredom susceptibility, disinhibition, experience seeking, and lifetime drug behaviors. We found no significant relationships between 2D:4D ratio and behaviors in females. Similarly, we found no relationship between digit ratio and sensation seeking, impulsive, or risky personality traits either. Digit ratio bad no relationship with sexual orientation, nor on number of older brothers. Overall, our findings suggest that there is a significant relationship between a masculinized digit ratio and certain sensation seeking and risk taking behaviors in men

A Systemic Approach to IT Policy: A New Perspective for Developing Countries

This paper will explore the argument that some developing countries, Venezuela in particular, could benefit from a systemic information technology (IT) policy that enhances and improves the processes of a country’s socio-economic development. Furthermore, some of the IT issues surrounding Venezuela’s operation in the global arena will be discussed recognising that a more dynamic approach, which encompasses social, political, technical and cultural factors, must be considered when designing national policies. A number of preliminary suggestions to incorporate a systemic approach to assist Venezuela’s socioeconomic development are put forward

Concern Solving Not Problem Solving

The object of this study is problem solving. The authors believe that considerable advantage can be gained from designers talking about clients’ concerns, rather than their problems. Using Mitroff and Linstone’s (1993) division of the knowing world into objective, subject and personal, the authors are suggesting need for a more personal perspective. Further, their and Checkland’s [1999] call for perspectives thinking can be used to very usefully separate the problem into object-like and subjective-like elements. The thing being studied is separated from the client’s concerns about that thing (treated as an object). The evidence to support this conclusion includes the multiple perspectives literature, and the first author’s many years of experiences in problem solving both is IS and in research design. A simple graphical tool is presented that the author has found useful to assist group discussion about separating the object under consideration from the client’s concerns

The research-teaching nexus : what do national teaching awards tells us?

This article addresses two questions that are part of a broader debate about the relationship between teaching and research: are outstanding university teachers engaged in research and are they disseminating their teaching expertise to other university teachers? We address these questions through an analysis of the research and publications of the 2005 winners of the competitive, national awards for university teaching in Australia. The analysis indicates that outstanding university teachers are active researchers, but are unlikely to publish about their teaching or improving teaching practice in universities. The findings have policy implications for the separation of teaching and research within and between universities, and raise questions about the contribution of teaching awards to the wider improvement of university teaching. As such, the article issues a caution to policy makers and university administrators against making pre‐emptive decisions about the relationship between teaching and research based on questionable assumptions.<br /

Feasibility and cost analysis of implementing high intensity aphasia clinics within a sub-acute setting

The current study explored the clinical feasibility and costs of embedding three different intensive service delivery models for aphasia treatment (computer, group therapy, and therapy with a speech pathology therapy assistant) within three sub-acute facilities. The study employed a two cohort comparison design, with the first cohort (n = 22) receiving the standard service of treatment currently offered. This treatment was delivered by a speech-language pathologist and involved on average 3 hours of treatment/week over 8 weeks. Participants in the second cohort (n = 31) received one of the three intensive treatment models providing up to 9 hours of therapy/week for 11 weeks. Organizational data was collected throughout treatment, with participant, caregiver, and clinician satisfaction with the intensive models also being measured. Participants completed the spoken language production sub-tests and the Disability Questionnaire of the Comprehensive Aphasia Test (CAT) pre- and post-treatment. All intensive models yielded high participant attendance, satisfaction, and significant improvements to the CAT sub-tests. The pro-rata cost of providing treatment per hour per client for the computer and group therapy models was found to be ̃ 30% cheaper compared to the standard service. The outcomes support the potential feasibility of embedding the different models into sub-acute facilities to enhance client access to intensive treatment for aphasia

The socioecology of Monk Parakeets: Insights into parrot social complexity

In many species, individuals benefit from social associations, but they must balance these benefits with the costs of competition for resources. Understanding how these competing factors generate diversity in social systems is a major goal of behavioral ecology, but one that has been hampered by a lack of basic data quantifying many aspects of social structure and associations. Although parrots are generally assumed to have complex social groups, few studies have quantitatively examined these assumptions about parrot social structure. We critically assessed 4 assumptions about parrot socioecology using data from captive and wild groups of Monk Parakeets (Myiopsitta monachus). We evaluated (1) whether pairs are the fundamental unit of parrot social structure, (2) the patterns and extent of fission–fusion dynamics, (3) patterns of aggression and dominance hierarchy structure, and (4) whether individuals share foraging information. We found evidence that supported pairs as the fundamental unit of social structure, although these close associates were not always heterosexual breeding pairs and were sometimes trios. Fission and fusion of subgroups were common, and the amount of fission–fusion dynamics varied across flock types and by fission–fusion dimension, but the amount of variation among dimensions was consistent across replicate captive social groups. Despite these levels of fission–fusion dynamics, study of aggressive interactions in our 2 captive groups indicated that dominance hierarchies existed. Hierarchies were moderately linear (0.7) but not steep

An analytical framework for quantifying and testing patterns of temporal dynamics in social networks

Change is fundamental to all social systems. Temporal dynamics are critical in understanding how relationships form and change over time but rarely are studied explicitly in animal groups. Social network approaches are useful in describing association patterns and provide promising tools for investigating the dynamics of change in social structure but have rarely been used to quantify how animal associations change over time. In this study, we describe and test a framework for temporal analysis of social structure. We propose an analytical framework of methods that integrates across social scales and comparatively analyses change in social structure across multiple types of social association. These methods enable comparisons in groups that differ in size and are flexible to allow application to weighted and unweighted networks, where ties can be directed or undirected, and relationships can be symmetric or asymmetric. We apply this analytical framework to temporal social network data from experimentally formed captive groups of monk parakeets, Myiopsitta monachus, to both evaluate our analysis methods and characterize the social structure of this species. We compared dynamics of dyadic network formation, ego network formation and global network stabilization patterns across neutral, affiliative and agonistic associations. We found that social structure of captive monk parakeets formed and stabilized over a short period, but patterns differed by social association type. We also found evidence for consistency in the temporal dynamics of formation and stabilization of social structure between replicate social groups. Our analysis methods successfully identified change in social structure that corresponded well with qualitative observations. This framework is likely to be useful in characterizing patterns of temporal dynamics in social structure in longitudinal data in wide variety of social systems and species