How STRANGE are your study animals?

A new framework for studies of animal behaviour will help to avoid sampling bias— ten years on from the call to widen the pool of human participants in psychology research beyond the WEIRD.Publisher PDFNon peer reviewe

Cleaning up our acts: Psychological interventions to reduce engine idling and improve air quality

A large-scale field experiment tested psychological interventions to reduce engine idling at long-wait stops. Messages based on theories of normative influence, outcome efficacy, and self-regulation were displayed approaching railway crossing on street poles. Observers coded whether drivers (N = 6049) turned off their engine while waiting at the railway crossings (only 27.2% did so at baseline). Automatic air quality monitors recorded levels of pollutants during barrier down times. To different degrees, the social norm and outcome efficacy messages successfully increased the proportion of drivers who turned off their engines (by 42% and 25%, respectively) and significantly reduced concentrations of atmospheric particulate matter (PM2.5) 2 m above ground level. Thus, the environment was improved through behavior change. Moreover, of both practical and theoretical significance, there was an ‘accelerator effect’, in line with theories of normative influence whereby the social norm message was increasingly effective as the volume of traffic increased

Moral identity, moral self-efficacy, and moral elevation: A sequential mediation model predicting moral intentions and behaviour

Witnessing acts of uncommon moral virtue can elicit feelings of moral elevation, which translate further into prosocial intentions and behaviour. Recent findings suggest that moral identity strengthens the elevation response after witnessing such acts. In the present paper, we propose that the positive relationship between moral identity and elevation is mediated by perceived moral self-efficacy (i.e. perceived ability to behave up to one’s moral standards), as a result of the moral vicarious experience. We present a set of five studies that tested the effect of moral identity (either measured or manipulated) and moral self-efficacy on elevation, prosocial intentions, and behaviour, following exposure to an act of uncommon virtue. Results supported a sequential mediation model: the positive effect of moral identity on elevation was mediated by moral self-efficacy; and elevation then mediated the effect of moral identity on prosocial intentions (Studies 3a-3b-4) and behaviour (Study 4). Implications and limitations are outlined

Cooperative problem solving in African grey parrots (Psittacus erithacus)

One of the main characteristics of human societies is the extensive degree of cooperation among individuals. Cooperation is an elaborate phenomenon, also found in non-human primates during laboratory studies and field observations of animal hunting behaviour, among other things. Some authors suggest that the pressures assumed to have favoured the emergence of social intelligence in primates are similar to those that may have permitted the emergence of complex cognitive abilities in some bird species such as corvids and psittacids. In the wild, parrots show cooperative behaviours such as bi-parental care and mobbing. In this study, we tested cooperative problem solving in African grey parrots (Psittacus erithacus). Our birds were tested using several experimental setups to explore the different levels of behavioural organisation between participants, differing in temporal and spatial complexity. In our experiments, African grey parrots were able to act simultaneously but mostly failed during the delay task, maybe because of a lack of inhibitory motor response. Confronted with the possibility to adapt their behaviour to the presence or absence of a partner, they showed that they were able to coordinate their actions. They also collaborated, acting complementarily in order to solve tasks, but they were not able to place themselves in the partner’s role

The dangers of distrustful complacency: Low concern and low political trust combine to undermine compliance with governmental restrictions in the emerging Covid-19 pandemic

People comply with governmental restrictions for different motives, notably because they are concerned about the issue at hand or because they trust their government to enact appropriate regulations. The present study focuses on the role of concern and political trust in people’s willingness to comply with governmental restrictions during the Covid-19 pandemic. We conducted a survey amongst Italian and French participants (N = 372) in March 2020 while both countries had imposed full lockdown. Moreover, a subsample of participants reported on their actual levels of compliance one week later (N = 130). We hypothesised that either concern or trust should be sufficient to sustain participants’ willingness to comply and actual behaviour, but that the absence of both (distrustful complacency) would reduce compliance significantly. Results supported this hypothesis. We discuss implications of the interaction between concern and trust for public behaviour strategies as the pandemic progresses

Intentions, efficacy, and norms: The impact of different self-regulatory cues on reducing engine idling at long wait stops

Idling engines contribute significantly to air pollution and health problems. In a field study at a busy railway crossing we used the Theory of Planned Behavior to design persuasive messages to convince car drivers (N = 442) to turn off their engines during long wait stops. We compared the effects of three different messages (focusing on outcome efficacy, normative reputation, or reflection on one's intentions) against a baseline condition. With differing effectiveness, all three messages had a positive effect compared with the baseline. Drivers were most likely to turn off their engines when the message focused on outcome efficacy (49%) or reflection (43%), as compared to the baseline (29%). The increased compliance in the normative reputation condition (38%) was not significantly different from baseline. Thus, stimulating self-regulatory processes, particularly outcome efficacy, is demonstrated to have a positive effect on pro-environmental driving behavior. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed

Quantification of the contribution of the Beauce groundwater aquifer to the discharge of the Loire River using satellite infrared imaging

International audienceSeven Landsat thermal infrared (TIR) images taken over the period 2000-2010 were used to establish longitudinal temperature profiles of the middle Loire River where it flows above the Beauce aquifer. The groundwater discharge along the river course was quantified for each identified groundwater catchment area using a heat budget based on temperature variations of the Loire River estimated from the TIR images. The results showed that 75 % of the temperature differences, between in situ observations and TIR image-based estimations, remained within the ±1 • C interval. The main discharge area of the Beauce aquifer into the Loire River was located between river kilometers 630 and 650, where there was a temperature drop of 1-1.5 • C in the summer and a rise of 0.5 • C in winter. According to the heat budgets, groundwater discharge was higher during the winter period (13.5 m 3 s −1) than during the summer period (5.3 m 3 s −1). These findings are in line with the results of both a groundwater budget and a process-based distributed hydrogeological model. Groundwater input was also found to be higher during the Loire's flow recession periods

Reduction of sugar lactones to hemiacetals with lithium triethylborohydride

Reduction of ribono-1,4-lactones and gulono-1,4-lactone as well as ribono-1,5-lactone and glucono-1,5-lactones with LTBH (1.2 equiv.) in CH(2)Cl(2) at 0 °C for 30 min. provided the corresponding pentose or hexose hemiacetals in high yields. Commonly used in carbohydrate chemistry protecting groups such as trityl, benzyl, silyl, acetals and to some extent acyls are compatible with this reduction

Assessing Private and Public Need for Uniqueness: Validation of French Versions of the Need for Uniqueness (NfU) and Self-Attributed Need for Uniqueness (SANU) Scales

Need for uniqueness represents the need for people to feel different and distinguish themselves from others. Two major scales exist that measure this need: the Need for Uniqueness scale (NfU; Snyder & Fromkin, 1977) and the Self-Attributed Need for Uniqueness scale (SANU; Lynn & Harris, 1997b). We propose here a French version of both scales. Through a dual approach of exploratory and confirmatory factorial analyses, we investigated the scales’ structure in student samples from two French-speaking countries (France and Switzerland, N D 1,348) as well as measures of internal and external validity. Both scales presented good psychometric properties in French. Additionally, we investigated differences between the scales, as literature suggests that the NfU relies mostly on public and risky displays of uniqueness, whereas the SANU focuses on private and more socially acceptable means to acquire a feeling of uniqueness. Differences arose in the links with several personality characteristics (emotionality, extraversion, agreeableness, sensation seeking, and self-consciousness), suggesting that the NfU corresponds rather to a need to demonstrate uniqueness through public displays and the SANU to a need to feel unique through more private means. We discuss implications for research and provide advice on choosing by the scale most appropriate to the researcher’s aims