Means or outcomes? Goal orientation predicts process and outcome focus

Previous research has demonstrated that the representation of goals primarily in terms of means (process focus) compared to outcomes of goal pursuit (outcome focus) increases across the lifespan. Nothing is known, however, about the processes underlying this age-related difference. The current study investigates age-related differences in growth and maintenance orientation as one of the factors contributing to age-related differences in goal focus. A self-report study (N=123, 18 to 82 years, M=48.59) presents first evidence that process focus is predicted by maintenance goal orientation, whereas outcome focus is predicted by growth goal orientation. Moreover, maintenance goal orientation mediates the positive association of age and process focus. Results are discussed taking a functional perspective of the role of goal orientation in age-related differences in goal focus

Comparative analysis of sound production between the bighead goby Ponticola kessleri and the round goby Neogobius melanostomus: Implications for phylogeny and systematics.

Divergence in acoustic traits between closely related species can be explained by phylogenetic history. In gobies, phylogenies reconstructed with acoustic signals primarily overlap with studies based on morphological or molecular data. Here, sound production of the two Ponto-Caspian gobies, Neogobius melanostomus and Ponticola kessleri, was recorded in controlled conditions and compared to determine the degree of interspecific acoustic variation across benthophilin gobies. Both species produced tonal-like sounds characterized by unique temporal and spectral properties during agonistic and reproductive intraspecific interactions, while the acoustic comparison revealed that the vocalizations of these two species differ in almost every acoustic property. N. melanostomus vocal structure was characterised by short (c. 100 ms), low-frequency (< 100 Hz) tonal sounds repeated at a relatively faster rate, while P. kessleri sounds appeared as a broadband, downward frequency modulated longer calls (c. 450 ms)