The evolution of primate short-term memory

Short-term memory is implicated in a range of cognitive abilities and is critical for understanding primate cognitive evolution. To investigate the effects of phylogeny, ecology and sociality on short-term memory, we tested the largest and most diverse primate sample to date (421 non-human primates across 41 species) in an experimental delayed-response task. Our results confirm previous findings that longer delays decrease memory performance across species and taxa. Our analyses demonstrate a considerable contribution of phylogeny over ecological and social factors on the distribution of short-term memory performance in primates; closely related species had more similar short-term memory abilities. Overall, individuals in the branch of Hominoidea performed better compared to Cercopithecoidea, who in turn performed above Platyrrhini and Strepsirrhini. Interdependencies between phylogeny and socioecology of a given species presented an obstacle to disentangling the effects of each of these factors on the evolution of shortterm memory capacity. However, this study offers an important step forward in understanding the interspecies and individual variation in short-term memory ability by providing the first phylogenetic reconstruction of this trait’s evolutionary history. The dataset constitutes a unique resource for studying the evolution of primate cognition and the role of short-term memory in other cognitive abilities

Cluster analysis application in cognitive processes of transport enterprise stratification

Celem artykułu jest wykazanie użyteczności narzędzia, jakim jest analiza skupień, w procesach porządkowania stratyfikacyjnego przedsiębiorstw transportowych. Analiza ta, pozwalając na wykrycie określonych struktur w przestrzeni rynku transportowego, może stać się punktem wyjścia do dalszych badań nad wyjaśnianiem procesów stratyfikacji podmiotów tego rynku.The research on transport may concern many issues, including the entity structures of the transport market, which is filled with diversified behavior of different entities, both on the supply and on the demand side of the market. On each of the sides one can observe layers of entities characterized by similar behavior – in the stratification systems of the market, individual entities in one layer show a similarity of the behavior, which is different between the layers. The goal of the article is to prove the usefulness of the cluster analysis in the processes of stratification arrangement of the transport enterprises. The analysis, by allowing the detection of particular structures in the transport market may become a starting point to further research on the explanation of stratification processes in that market. A ranking of transport and haulage enterprises, in which they were grouped according to the revenues in the year 2014 was used in the article. The procedure of k-means clustering and a further ANOVA were used to obtain the results which allow to conclude that there are in fact clusters on the market, which are different when it comes to crucial economic data. This leads to a conclusion that the use of presented research methods allows to show the processes on the transport market in a new way, thus proving the practical use of cluster analysis

Eemian to Early Weichselian organic deposits in the watershed kettle-hole basins in central Poland

In the examined part of central Poland, there are numerous kettle-hole basins filled with mineral and biogenic sediments of the Eemian Interglacial and Early Weichselian. These basins are located in varied geological and geomorphological locations with variable thicknesses of the sediments and deposits. The infillings were investigated by lithological and palaeobotanic methods. Lithology of the biogenic sediments is diverse, primarily gyttja and peat, but also organic silt. A number of the documented sites contain a record of environmental changes throughout the glacial-interglacial cycle from the end of the Warta Stadial (Saalian) to Early Weichselian. Local geological, geomorphological and hydrological conditions influenced the possibility of continuous peat-lake accumulation and the timing of the completion of this accumulation. Biogenic sediments are covered with the Middle and Late Weichselian mineral sediments which indicate climatic changes and are the main reason for rapid and synchronic degradation of kettle-hole infillings

Quaternary stratigraphy and palaeogeography of Poland

Though the stratigraphical and palaeogeographical framework of the Quaternary in Poland is still to be completed, several crucial points have been confirmed recently. The preglacial series, accepted for years as belonging to the Lower Pleistocene, is undoubtedly of Early Pliocene age, with a huge hiatus above almost until the uppermost Lower Pleistocene. The earliest glaciation in Poland (Nidanian) occurred at about 900 ka BP when the ice sheet reached the mid-southern part of the country. The following Podlasian Interglacial embraced the Brunhes/Matuyama boundary in the middle, in a similar fashion to the corresponding Cromerian Complex in Western Europe. The late Early and early Middle Pleistocene interglacials in Poland comprised 2-3 optima each, whereas every one of the younger interglacials was characterised by a single optimum only. The Late Vistulian ice sheet was most extensive in the western part of Poland (Leszno Phase) whereas the younger Poznań Phase was more extensive in the central and eastern part of the country. This was due to the varied distance from the glaciation center in Scandinavia, making the ice sheet margin reach a terminal position in different times. Palaeoclimatological research in the Tatra Mountains has provided new evidence for the atmospheric circulation over Europe. During cold phases of the Pleistocene in Poland a continental climate extended further westwards, quite the opposite that occurring during warmer intervals

Instability of the environment at the end of the Eemian Interglacial as illustrated by the isopollen maps for Poland

Many terrestrial pollen profiles from Poland (and a few pollen records from other parts of Central Europe) show the end of the last interglacial (Eemian, MIS 5e) to have been characterized by climatic and environmental instability. This is expressed by a strong, rapid cooling in the middle part of the pine phase ending this interglacial (E7 regional pollen assemblage zone), and then a re-warming at the very end of this phase, immediately before the transition to the glacial conditions of the last glaciation (Vistulian, Weichselian, MIS 5d). We have characterized the regional distribution of these climatic fluctuations in Poland on the basis of isopollen maps prepared for the Eemian Interglacial based on palynological data from 31 Polish pollen profiles. These maps show unequivocally that the intra-interglacial cooling at the end of the Eemian Interglacial was a transregional phenomenon, which was reflected very clearly by a temporary openness of vegetation across the whole of Poland. It was associated with a distinct decrease in pine forest areas and an increase in birch forests and open communities of cold steppe type with a domination of Artemisia. The pronounced climate and environment instability during the last phase of the Eemian Interglacial may be consistent with it being a natural phenomenon, characteristic of transitional stages. Taking into consideration the currently observed global warming, coinciding with a natural cooling trend, the study of such transitional stages is important for understanding the underlying processes of climate change

The evolution of primate short-term memory

Short-term memory is implicated in a range of cognitive abilities and is critical for understanding primate cognitive evolution. To investigate the effects of phylogeny, ecology and sociality on short-term memory, we tested the largest and most diverse primate sample to date (421 non-human primates across 41 species) in an experimental delayed-response task. Our results confirm previous findings that longer delays decrease memory performance across species and taxa. Our analyses demonstrate a considerable contribution of phylogeny over ecological and social factors on the distribution of short-term memory performance in primates; closely related species had more similar short-term memory abilities. Overall, individuals in the branch of Hominoidea performed better compared to Cercopithecoidea, who in turn performed above Platyrrhini and Strepsirrhini. Interdependencies between phylogeny and socioecology of a given species presented an obstacle to disentangling the effects of each of these factors on the evolution of shortterm memory capacity. However, this study offers an important step forward in understanding the interspecies and individual variation in short-term memory ability by providing the first phylogenetic reconstruction of this trait’s evolutionary history. The dataset constitutes a unique resource for studying the evolution of primate cognition and the role of short-term memory in other cognitive abilities