Preferences for spicy foods and disgust of ectoparasites are associated with reported health in humans

Infectious diseases that influence human survival are responsible for the evolved emotional, cognitive and behavioural strategies that reduce the risk of disease transmission. The preference for spices in foods of contemporary humans was thought to be an antipathogen strategy that could reduce disease transmission. We investigated the possible associations between reported health and anti-pathogen strategies in a sample of Slovak high school students. We found that the reported consumption of spices and ectoparasite avoidance was positively associated with the total number of reported illnesses in the last year and hand washing was negatively associated with this. This means that immunologically compromised people prefer spices more and avoid contact with disease-relevant insect vectors more than their healthier counterparts. Females engaged in anti-pathogen behaviours more than males, but consumed spicy foods less frequently, suggesting their evolutionary role in the maternal investment to their offspring or different susceptibility to certain diseases. Our results suggest that people vulnerable to diseases are more disgust sensitive and prefer foods with antimicrobial properties more than healthy people, supporting an idea that human emotions and behaviour are influenced by the threat of parasites

The Impact of Evolutionary Education on Knowledge and Understanding the Evolution

Evolution is one of the most difficult and controversial topics. Scientific knowledge of evolution should belong to general knowledge of people, it should be the part of their natural science knowledge or biological education because it is the basis for accepting or refusing of other important topics such as genetical modification, global climatic change and others. Our aim was to analyse the inclusion of evolution in the teaching process in Slovakia in the subjects of history and biology and the associated potential threats to the formation of misconceptions. We measured the level of knowledge and understanding of evolution and evolutionary processes among high school graduates (N = 200). In doing so, we hypothesized that graduating high school students who have received evolutionary education achieve higher levels of both knowledge and understanding of evolutionary processes compared to those who have not received such education. We hypothesized that interest in science and acceptance of evolution would also positively influence levels of knowledge about evolutionary phenomena and understanding of evolutionary processes. Having used research, we claimed the impact of interest in natural science. We suggest to include the evolution as a main topic of biology into education through exploration- oriented teaching

Animal Welfare Attitudes: Effects of Gender and Diet in University Samples from 22 Countries

Animal Welfare Attitudes (AWA) are defined as human attitudes towards the welfare of animals in different dimensions and settings. Demographic factors, such as age and gender are associated with AWA. The aim of this study was to assess gender differences among university students in a large convenience sample from twenty-two nations in AWA. A total of 7914 people participated in the study (5155 women, 2711 men, 48 diverse). Participants completed a questionnaire that collected demographic data, typical diet and responses to the Composite Respect for Animals Scale Short version (CRAS-S). In addition, we used a measure of gender empowerment from the Human Development Report. The largest variance in AWA was explained by diet, followed by country and gender. In terms of diet, 6385 participants reported to be omnivores, 296 as pescatarian, 637 ate a vegetarian diet and 434 were vegans (n = 162 without answer). Diet was related with CRAS-S scores; people with a vegan diet scored higher in AWA than omnivores. Women scored significantly higher on AWA than men. Furthermore, gender differences in AWA increased as gender inequality decreased

Factors Influencing the Sponsoring of Animals in Slovak Zoos

Anthropogenic disturbance causes biodiversity loss, and consequently the captive conservation (ex situ) of threatened animals may be an effective strategy in protecting species. We used estimated body mass, phylogenetic closeness with humans, International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) conservation status, and species attractiveness scores, to examine the factors influencing the adoption likelihood of a species in all Slovak zoos. In general, vertebrates received more funding than invertebrates, and mammals were the preferred taxa by private contributors. In terms of funding, we propose that the perception of mammals as phylogenetically close to humans, and attractiveness factor, contribute to an advantage over less attractive and phylogenetically distant species. Conservation status also contributed to the amount of donations; however, the magnitude of these relationships was weak when compared to the effect of animal taxa. These results suggest that Slovak zoos might be more successful in raising donations by breeding threatened species, and raising public awareness about these animal species. Displaying popular, flagship species of non-mammal taxa may increase interest among the public as well, and may translate into a significant growth in the amount of donations

Súvisí stupeň odporu, strachu a vnímania nebezpečenstva parazitov so správaním človeka?

The article deals with the fear and disgust of pupils and students from Slovakia towards parasites. Parasites were perceived more disgusting and fearful compared to control groups of invertebrates. These emotions correlated with several anti-parasite behaviours, which suggests that participants with higher perceived fear and disgust of parasites promote behaviours that help to reduce transmission of parasitic diseases.Článok sa zaoberá strachom a odporom slovenských študentov k parazitom a skúma uvedené emócie v súvislosti so správaním človeka. Parazity boli vnímané ako odpornejšie v porovnaní s kontrolnou skupinou bezstavovcov. Tieto emócie korelovali s antiparazitickým správaním človeka. Respondenti, ktorí mali väčší strach a odpor z parazitov, vykazovali správanie, ktoré redukuje prenos parazitárnych ochorení

Percepcia rastlinných plodov žiakmi základných škôl alebo čo je pekné, je aj dobré

Rozmanitosť sfarbenia plodov/semien púta pozornosť už od čias Darwina, avšak len veľmi málo sa vie o preferenciách určitých plodov/semien človekom. Atraktívne predmety sú človekom hodnotené pozitívne, lákajú jeho pozornosť, nepríťažlivé subjekty pôsobia naopak odpudivo. Cieľom práce bolo zistiť vzťah medzi vnímaním toxicity, estetiky a ochotou skonzumovať plody rastlín a stanovenie vplyv sfarbenia plodu na vnímanie jeho atraktivity. Výskumu sa zúčastnilo 195 žiakov základnej školy, ktorí sa na základe powerpointovej prezentácie, v rámci ktorej bolo prezentovaných 20 obrázkov cudzokrajných rastlín, konkrétne ich plodov, vyjadrovali k atraktivite, toxicite a ochote skonzumovať predložené plody. Bolo zistené, že žiaci boli ochotní skonzumovať vybrané plody bola štatisticky významne ovplyvnená vnímaním estetiky prezentovaných plodov a semien. Respondenti neboli schopní rozlišovať medzi jedlými a toxickými plodmi na základe ich sfarbenia. Červené plody boli hodnotené ako atraktívnejšie ako zelené a hnedé plody. Dievčatá hodnotili všetky skupiny plodov oveľa atraktívnejšie v porovnaní s chlapcami

Záujem žiakov nižšieho sekundárneho vzdelávania o biologické vedy

Záujem žiakov o prírodovedné predmety celosvetovo klesá a žiaci ako dôvody nezáujmu uvádzajú náročnosť a nedôležitosť daných predmetov pre ich život a budúce povolanie. Cieľom výskumného šetrenia bolo zistiť, aká oblasť z prírodovedných predmetov žiakov zaujíma najviac, a tiež vplyv premenných ako sú gender a vek na záujem o biologické vedy (predpokladali sme, že žiaci prejavia najväčší záujem o biologické vedy). Výskumu sa zúčastnilo 389 žiakov nižšieho sekundárneho vzdelávania vo veku 10–15 rokov. Každý respondent mal na čistý hárok papiera uviesť ľubovoľný počet spontánnych otázok – mal napísať otázky, ktorých odpoveď ho zaujíma. Viac ako 91 % všetkých otázok predstavovali otázky z biológie a nie z fyziky alebo chémie. Väčší záujem o biológiu bol zistený u dievčat. Z oblasti biológie bolo najviac otázok položených v šiestom ročníku a najmenej v piatom ročníku, čo je pravdepodobne spôsobené obsahom kurikula. Tento jav je vysvetlený v záverečnej kapitole článku

The Effect of Aposematic Signals of Plants on Students’ Perception and Willingness to Protect Them

Degradation of biodiversity is one of the current problems of today, and scientists are increasingly concerned with identifying the key factors influencing people’s willingness to protect (WTP) wild organisms. Using a within-subject design, we investigated the influence of aposematic signals along with the presence or absence of flowers on perceived danger, attractiveness and WTP plants with lower secondary school students (mean age = 13 yrs) in Slovakia (n = 423). Aposematic plants received a higher dangerousness score (mean = 2.62 vs. 2.27), higher attractiveness score (mean = 3.45 vs. 3.32) and lower WTP plants than plants without aposematic signals (mean = 3.27 vs. 3.37). Interaction terms showed that males perceived the aposematic species as more dangerous than females and were more willing to protect species lacking aposematic signals. Females rated aposematic plants as more attractive than non-aposematic plants (mean = 3.82 vs. 3.0). The presence of flowers increased the perceived attractiveness of plants (mean = 3.75 vs. 3.02) and WTP plants (mean = 3.59 vs. 3.05) and decreased perceived dangerousness (mean = 2.70 vs. 2.20). Perceived attractiveness and WTP plants decreased with students’ age. Students with a higher interest in plants rated the attractiveness of the species more positively and were also more willing to protect them regardless of the presence of aposematic signals. We conclude that the presence of aposematic signals does not directly contribute to WTP plants, but conspicuous traits with high aesthetic value, such as flowers, positively enhance WTP in Slovak students