New Studies Show Pundits Are Wrong About Russian Social-Media Involvement in US Politics. Aaron Maté. The Nation, Dec 28 2018, https://www.thenation.com/article/russiagate-elections-interference/
Far from being a sophisticated propaganda campaign, it was small, amateurish, and mostly unrelated to the 2016 election.
Excerpts with no links:
The release of two Senate-commissioned reports has sparked a new round of panic about Russia manipulating a vulnerable American public on social media. Headlines warn that Russian trolls have tried to suppress the African-American vote, promote Green Party candidate Jill Stein, recruit “assets,” and “sow discord” or “hack the 2016 election” via sex-toy ads and Pokémon Go. “The studies,” writes David Ignatius of The Washington Post, “describe a sophisticated, multilevel Russian effort to use every available tool of our open society to create resentment, mistrust and social disorder,” demonstrating that the Russians, “thanks to the Internet…seem to be perfecting these dark arts.” According to Michelle Goldberg of The New York Times, “it looks increasingly as though” Russian disinformation “changed the direction of American history” in the narrowly decided 2016 election, when “Russian trolling easily could have made the difference.”
The reports, from the University of Oxford’s Computational Propaganda Research Project and the firm New Knowledge, do provide the most thorough look at Russian social-media activity to date. With an abundance of data, charts, graphs, and tables, coupled with extensive qualitative analysis, the authors scrutinize the output of the Internet Research Agency (IRA) the Russian clickbait firm indicted by special counsel Robert Mueller in February 2018. On every significant metric, it is difficult to square the data with the dramatic conclusions that have been drawn.
• 2016 Election Content: The most glaring data point is how minimally Russian social-media activity pertained to the 2016 campaign. The New Knowledge report acknowledges that evaluating IRA content “purely based on whether it definitively swung the election is too narrow a focus,” as the “explicitly political content was a small percentage.” To be exact, just “11% of the total content” attributed to the IRA and 33 percent of user engagement with it “was related to the election.” The IRA’s posts “were minimally about the candidates,” with “roughly 6% of tweets, 18% of Instagram posts, and 7% of Facebook posts” having “mentioned Trump or Clinton by name.”
• Scale: The researchers claim that “the scale of [the Russian] operation was unprecedented,” but they base that conclusion on dubious figures. They repeat the widespread claim that Russian posts “reached 126 million people on Facebook,” which is in fact a spin on Facebook’s own guess. “Our best estimate,” Facebook’s Colin Stretch testified to Congress in October 2017, “is that approximately 126 million people may have been served one of these [IRA] stories at some time during the two year period” between 2015 and 2017. According to Stretch, posts generated by suspected Russian accounts showing up in Facebook’s News Feed amounted to “approximately 1 out of 23,000 pieces of content.”
• Spending: Also hurting the case that the Russians reached a large number of Americans is that they spent such a microscopic amount of money to do it. Oxford puts the IRA’s Facebook spending between 2015 and 2017 at just $73,711. As was previously known, about $46,000 was spent on Russian-linked Facebook ads before the 2016 election. That amounts to about 0.05 percent of the $81 million spent on Facebook ads by the Clinton and Trump campaigns combined. A recent disclosure by Google that Russian-linked accounts spent $4,700 on platforms in 2016 only underscores how miniscule that spending was. The researchers also claim that the IRA’s “manipulation of American political discourse had a budget that exceeded $25 million USD.” But that number is based on a widely repeated error that mistakes the IRA’s spending on US-related activities for its parent project’s overall global budget, including domestic social-media activity in Russia.
• Sophistication: Another reason to question the operation’s sophistication can be found by simply looking at its offerings. The IRA’s most shared pre-election Facebook post was a cartoon of a gun-wielding Yosemite Sam. Over on Instagram, the best-received image urged users to give it a “Like” if they believe in Jesus. The top IRA post on Facebook before the election to mention Hillary Clinton was a conspiratorial screed about voter fraud. It’s telling that those who are so certain Russian social-media posts affected the 2016 election never cite the posts that they think actually helped achieve that end. The actual content of those posts might explain why.
• Covert or Clickbait Operation? Far from exposing a sophisticated propaganda campaign, the reports provide more evidence that the Russians were actually engaging in clickbait capitalism: targeting unique demographics like African Americans or evangelicals in a bid to attract large audiences for commercial purposes. Reporters who have profiled the IRA have commonly described it as “a social media marketing campaign.” Mueller’s indictment of the IRA disclosed that it sold “promotions and advertisements” on its pages that generally sold in the $25-$50 range. “This strategy,” Oxford observes, “is not an invention for politics and foreign intrigue, it is consistent with techniques used in digital marketing.” New Knowledge notes that the IRA even sold merchandise that “perhaps provided the IRA with a source of revenue,” hawking goods such as T-shirts, “LGBT-positive sex toys and many variants of triptych and 5-panel artwork featuring traditionally conservative, patriotic themes.”
• “Asset Development”: Lest one wonder how promoting sex toys might factor into a sophisticated influence campaign, the New Knowledge report claims that exploiting “sexual behavior” was a key component of the IRA’s “expansive” “human asset recruitment strategy” in the United States. “Recruiting an asset by exploiting a personal vulnerability,” the report explains, “is a timeless espionage practice.” The first example of this timeless espionage practice is of an ad featuring Jesus consoling a dejected young man by telling him: “Struggling with the addiction to masturbation? Reach out to me and we will beat it together.” It is unknown if this particular tactic brought any assets into the fold. But New Knowledge reports that there was “some success with several of these human-activation attempts.” That is correct: The IRA’s online trolls apparently succeeded in sparking protests in 2016, like several in Florida where “it’s unclear if anyone attended”; “no people showed up to at least one,” and “ragtag groups” showed up at others, including one where video footage captured a crowd of eight people. The most successful effort appears to have been in Houston, where Russian trolls allegedly organized dueling rallies pitting a dozen white supremacists against several dozen counter-protesters outside an Islamic center.
Based on all of this data, we can draw this picture of Russian social-media activity: It was mostly unrelated to the 2016 election; microscopic in reach, engagement, and spending; and juvenile or absurd in its content. This leads to the inescapable conclusion, as the New Knowledge study acknowledges, that “the operation’s focus on elections was merely a small subset” of its activity. They qualify that “accurate” narrative by saying it “misses nuance and deserves more contextualization.” Alternatively, perhaps it deserves some minimal reflection that a juvenile social-media operation with such a small focus on elections is being widely portrayed as a seismic threat that may well have decided the 2016 contest.
Doing so leads us to conclusions that have nothing to do with Russian social-media activity, nor with the voters supposedly influenced by it. Take the widespread speculation that Russian social-media posts may have suppressed the black vote. That a Russian troll farm sought to deceive black audiences and other targeted demographics on social media is certainly contemptible. But in criticizing that effort there’s no reason to assume it was successful—and yet that’s exactly what the pundits did. “When you consider the narrow margins by which [Donald Trump] won [Michigan and Wisconsin], and poor minority turnout there, these Russian voter suppression efforts may have been decisive,” former Obama adviser David Axelrod commented. “Black voter turnout declined in 2016 for the first time in 20 years in a presidential election,” The New York Times conspicuously notes, “but it is impossible to determine whether that was the result of the Russian campaign.”
That it is even considered possible that the Russian campaign impacted the black vote displays a rather stunning paternalism and condescension. Would Axelrod, Times reporters, or any of the others floating a similar scenario accept a suggestion that their own votes might be susceptible to silly social-media posts mostly unrelated to the election? If not, what does that tell us about their attitudes toward the people that they presume could be so vulnerable?
Entertaining the possibility that Russian social-media posts impacted the election outcome requires more than just a contemptuous view of average voters. It also requires the abandonment of elementary standards of logic, probability, and arithmetic. We now have corroboration of this judgment from an unlikely source. Just days after the New Knowledge report was released, The New York Times reported that the company had carried out “a secret experiment” in the 2017 Alabama Senate race. According to an internal document, New Knowledge used “many of the [Russian] tactics now understood to have influenced the 2016 elections,” going so far as to stage an “elaborate ‘false flag’ operation” that promoted the idea that the Republican candidate, Roy Moore, was backed by Russian bots. The fallout from the operation has led Facebook to suspend the accounts of five people, including New Knowledge CEO Jonathon Morgan.
The Times discloses that the project had a budget of $100,000, but adds that it “was likely too small to have a significant effect on the race.” A Democratic operative concurs, telling the Times that “it was impossible that a $100,000 operation had an impact.”
The Alabama Senate race cost $51 million. If it was impossible for a $100,000 New Knowledge operation to affect a 2017 state election, then how could a comparable—perhaps even less expensive—Russian operation possibly impact a $2.4 billion US presidential election in 2016?
On top of straining credulity, fixating on barely detectable and trivial social-media content also downplays myriad serious issues. As the journalist Ari Berman has tirelessly pointed out, the 2016 election was “the first presidential contest in 50 years without the full protections of the [Voting Rights Act],” one that was conducted amid “the greatest rollback of voting rights since the act was passed” in 1965. Rather than ruminating over whether they were duped by Russian clickbait, reporters who have actually spoken to black Midwest voters have found that political disillusionment amid stagnant wages, high inequality, and pervasive police brutality led many to stay home.
And that leads us to perhaps a key reason why elites in particular are so fixated on the purported threat of Russian meddling: It deflects attention from their own failures, and the failings of the system that grants them status as elites. During the campaign, corporate media outlets handed Donald Trump billions of dollars worth of air time because, in the words of the now ousted CBS exec Les Moonves: “It may not be good for America, but it’s damn good for CBS…. The money’s rolling in and this is fun.” Not wanting to interrupt the fun, these outlets have every incentive to breathlessly cover Russiagate and amplify comparisons of stolen Democratic Party e-mails and Russian social-media posts to Pearl Harbor, 9/11, Kristallnacht, and “cruise missiles.”
Having lost the presidential election to a reality TV host, the Democratic Party leadership is arguably the most incentivized to capitalize on the Russia panic. They continue to oblige. Like clockwork, former Clinton campaign manager Robby Mook seized on the new Senate studies to warn that “Russian operatives will try to divide Democrats again in the 2020 primary, making activists unwitting accomplices.” By “unwitting accomplices,” Mook is presumably referring to the progressive Democrats who have protested the DNC leadership’s collusion with the Clinton campaign and bias against Bernie Sanders in the 2016 primary. Mook is following a now familiar Democratic playbook: blaming Russia for the consequences of the party elite’s own actions. When an uproar arose over Trump campaign data firm Cambridge Analytica in early 2018, Hillary Clinton was quoted posing what she dubbed the “real question”: “How did the Russians know how to target their messages so precisely to undecided voters in Wisconsin, or Michigan, or Pennsylvania?”
In fact, the Russians spent a grand total of $3,102 in these three states, with the majority of that paltry sum not even during the general election but during the primaries, and the majority of the ads were not even about candidates but about social issues. The total number of times ads were targeted at Wisconsin (54), Michigan (36), Pennsylvania (25) combined is less than the 152 times that ads were targeted at the blue state of New York. Wisconsin and Michigan also happen to be two states that Clinton infamously, and perilously, avoided visiting in the campaign’s final months.
The utility of Russia-baiting goes far beyond absolving elites of responsibility for their own failures. Hacked documents have recently revealed that a UK-government charity has waged a global propaganda operation in the name of “countering Russian disinformation.” The project, known as the Integrity Initiative, is run by military intelligence officials with funding from the British Foreign Office and other government sources, including the US State Department and NATO. It works closely with “clusters” of sympathetic journalists and academics across the West, and has already been outed for waging a social-media campaign against Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn. The group’s Twitter account promoted articles that painted Corbyn as a “useful idiot” in support of “the Kremlin cause”; criticized his communications director, Seumas Milne, for his alleged “work with the Kremlin agenda”; and said, “It’s time for the Corbyn left to confront its Putin problem.”
The Corbyn camp is far from the only progressive force to be targeted with this smear tactic. That it is revealed to be part of a Western government–backed operation is yet another reason to consider the fixation with Russian social-media activity in a new light. There is no indication that the disinformation spread by employees of a St. Petersburg troll farm has had a discernible impact on the US electorate. The barrage of claims to the contrary is but one element of an infinitely larger chorus from failed political elites, sketchy private firms, shadowy intelligence officials, and credulous media outlets that inculcates the Western public with fears of a Kremlin “sowing discord.” Given how divorced the prevailing alarm is from the actual facts—and the influence of those fueling it—we might ask ourselves whose disinformation is most worthy of concern.
Aaron Maté is a host/producer for The Real News.
Check also The Mueller Report Indicts the Trump-Russia Conspiracy Theory: The real Russiagate scandal is the damage it has to our democratic system and media. Aaron Maté. The Nation, Apr 26 2019, https://www.thenation.com/article/russiagate-trump-mueller-report-no-collusion/
For more than two years, leading US political and media voices promoted a narrative that Donald Trump conspired with or was compromised by the Kremlin, and that Special Counsel Robert Mueller would prove it. In the process, they overlooked countervailing evidence and diverted anti-Trump energies into fervent speculation and prolonged anticipation. So long as Mueller was on the case, it was possible to believe that “The Walls Are Closing In” on the traitor/puppet/asset in the White House.
The long-awaited completion of Mueller’s probe, and the release of his redacted report, reveals this narrative—and the expectations it fueled—to be unfounded. No American was indicted for conspiring with Russia to influence the 2016 election. Mueller’s report does lay out extensive evidence that Trump sought to impede the investigation, but he declined to issue a verdict on obstruction. By contrast, the report shows no evidence that the Trump campaign conspired with the Russian government’s alleged effort to defeat Hillary Clinton, and renders this conclusion: “Ultimately, the investigation did not establish that the [Trump] Campaign coordinated or conspired with the Russian government in its election-interference activities.” As a result, Mueller’s report provides the reverse of what Russiagate promoters led their audiences to expect: Rather than detailing a sinister collusion plot with Russia, it presents what amounts to an extended indictment of the conspiracy theory itself.
1. Russiagate Without Russia
The most fundamental element of a conspiracy is contact between the two sides doing the conspiring. Hence, on the eve of the report’s release, The New York Times noted that among the “outstanding questions” that Mueller would answer were the nature of “contacts between Kremlin intermediaries and the Trump campaign.”
Mueller’s report does answer that question: There were effectively no “Kremlin intermediaries.” The report contains no evidence that anyone from the Trump campaign spoke to a Kremlin representative during the election outside of conversations with the Russian ambassador and a press-office assistant, both of which were ruled out as elements of a conspiracy (more on them later).
It should be no surprise then to learn, from Mueller, that when “Russian government officials and prominent Russian businessmen began trying to make inroads into the new administration” after Trump’s election victory, they did not know who to call. These powerful Russians, Mueller noted, “appeared not to have preexisting contacts and struggled to connect with senior officials around the President-Elect.” If top Russians did not have “preexisting contacts and struggled to connect with” the people that they supposedly conspired with, perhaps that is because they did not actually conspire.
To borrow a phrase from Nation contributing editor Stephen F. Cohen, when it comes to the core question of contacts between Trump and the Russian government, we are left with a “Russiagate without Russia.” Instead we have a series of interactions where Trump associates speak with Russian nationals, people with ties to Russian nationals, or people who claim to have ties to the Russian government. But none of these “links,” “ties,” or associations ever entail a single member of the Trump campaign interacting with a Kremlin intermediary. They have nonetheless fueled a dogged media effort to track every known instance where someone in the Trump orbit interacted with “the Russians,” or someone who can be linked to them. There is nothing illegal or inherently suspect about speaking to a Russian national—but there is something xenophobic about implying so.
2. Russiagate’s Predicate Led Nowhere
The most glaring absence of a Kremlin intermediary comes in the case that ostensibly prompted the entire Trump-Russia investigation. During an April 2016 meeting in Rome, a London-based professor named Joseph Mifsud reportedly informed Trump campaign aide George Papadopoulos that “the Russians” had obtained “thousands of emails” containing “dirt” on Hillary Clinton. That information made its way to the FBI, which used it as a pretext to open the “Crossfire Hurricane” probe on July 31, 2016. Papadopoulos was later indicted for lying to FBI agents about the timing of his contacts with Mifsud. The case stoked speculation that Papadopoulos acted as an intermediary between Trump and Russia.
But Papadopoulos played no such role. And while the Mueller report says Papadopoulos “understood Mifsud to have substantial connections to high-level Russian government officials,” it never asserts that Mifsud actually had those connections. Since Mifsud’s suspected Russian connections were the purported predicate for the FBI’s initial Trump-Russia investigation, that is a conspicuous non-call. Another is the revelation from Mueller that Mifsud made false statements to FBI investigators when they interviewed him in February 2017—but yet, unlike Papadopoulos, Mifsud was not indicted. What is not a mystery is whether the supposed spark for the Russia collusion probe revealed collusion: It did not.
3. Sergey Kislyak Had “Brief and Non-Substantive” Interactions With the Trump Camp
Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak’s conversations with Trump campaign officials and associates during and after the 2016 election were the focus of intense controversy and speculation, leading to the recusal of Jeff Sessions, then attorney general, and to the indictment of National Security Adviser Michael Flynn.
After an exhaustive review, Mueller concluded that Kislyak’s interactions with Trump campaign officials at public events “were brief, public, and non-substantive.” As for Kislyak’s much–ballyhooed meeting which Sessions in September 2016, Mueller saw no reason to dispute that it “included any more than a passing mention of the presidential campaign.” When Kislyak spoke with other Trump aides after the August 2016 Republican National Convention, Mueller “did not identify evidence in those interactions of coordination between the Campaign and the Russian government.”
The same goes for Kislyak’s post-election conversations with Flynn. Mueller indicted Flynn for making “false statements and omissions” in an interview with the FBI about his contacts with Kislyak during the transition in December 2016. The prevailing supposition was that Flynn lied in order to hide from the FBI an election-related payoff or “quid pro quo” with the Kremlin. The report punctures that thesis by reaffirming the facts in Flynn’s indictment: What Flynn hid from agents was that he had “called Kislyak to request Russian restraint” in response to sanctions imposed by the outgoing Obama administration, and that Kislyak had agreed. Mueller ruled out the possibility that Flynn could have implicated Trump in anything criminal by noting the absence of evidence that Flynn “possessed information damaging to the President that would give the President a personal incentive to end the FBI’s inquiry into Flynn’s conduct.”
4. Trump Tower Moscow Had No Help From Moscow…
The November 2018 indictment of Trump’s former lawyer, Michael Cohen, was widely seen as damning, possibly impeachment-worthy, for Trump. Cohen admitted to giving false written answers to Congress in a bid to downplay Trump’s personal knowledge of his company’s failed effort to build a Trump Tower in Moscow. To proponents of the collusion theory, Cohen’s admitted lies were proof that “Trump is compromised by Russia,” “full stop.”
But the Mueller report does not show any such compromise, and, in fact, shows there to be no Trump-Kremlin relationship. Cohen, the report notes, “requested [Kremlin] assistance in moving the project forward, both in securing land to build the project and with financing.” The request was evidently rejected. Elena Poliakova, the personal assistant to Kremlin Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov, spoke with Cohen by phone after he emailed her office for help. After their 20-minute call, the report says, “Cohen could not recall any direct follow-up from Poliakova or from any other representative of the Russian government, nor did the [Special Counsel’s] Office identify any evidence of direct follow-up.”
5. …and Trump Didn’t Ask Cohen to Lie About It
The Mueller report not only dispels the notion that Trump had secret dealings with the Kremlin over Trump Tower Moscow; it also rejects a related impeachment-level “bombshell.” In January, Buzzfeed News reported that Mueller had evidence that Trump “directed” Cohen to lie to Congress about the Moscow project. But according to Mueller, “the evidence available to us does not establish that the President directed or aided Cohen’s false testimony,” and that Cohen himself testified “that he and the President did not explicitly discuss whether Cohen’s testimony about the Trump Tower Moscow project would be or was false.” In a de-facto retraction, Buzzfeed updated its story with an acknowledgement of Mueller’s conclusion.
6. The Trump Tower Meeting Really Was Just a “Waste of Time”
The June 2016 meeting in Trump Tower was widely dubbed the “Smoking Gun.” An email chain showed that Donald Trump Jr. welcomed an offer to accept compromising information about Clinton as “part of Russia and its government’s support for Mr. Trump.” But the pitch did not come from the meeting’s Russian participants, but instead from Rob Goldstone, a British music publicist acting on their behalf. Goldstone said that he invented “publicist puff” to secure the meeting, because in reality, as he told NPR, “I had no idea what I was talking about.”
Mueller noted that Trump Jr’s response “showed that the Campaign anticipated receiving information from Russia that could assist candidate Trump’s electoral prospects, but the Russian lawyer’s presentation did not provide such information [emphasis mine].” The report further recounts that during the meeting Jared Kushner texted then-Trump campaign chair Paul Manafort that it was a “waste of time,” and requested that his assistants “call him to give him an excuse to leave.” Accordingly, when “Veselnitskaya made additional efforts to follow up on the meeting,” after the election, “the Trump Transition Team did not engage.”
7. Manafort Did Not Share Polling Data to Meddle in the US Election
In January, Mueller accused Manafort of lying to investigators about several matters, including sharing Trump polling data and discussing a Ukraine peace plan with his Ukrainian-Russian colleague, Konstantin Kilimnik, during the 2016 campaign. According to Mueller, the FBI “assesses” that Kilimnik has unspecified “ties to Russian intelligence.” To collusion proponents, the revelation was dubbed “the closest we’ve seen yet to real, live, actual collusion” and even the “Russian collusion smoking gun.”
Mueller, of course, reached a different conclusion: He “did not identify evidence of a connection between Manafort’s sharing polling data and Russia’s interference in the election,” and moreover, “did not establish that Manafort otherwise coordinated with the Russian government on its election-interference efforts.” Mueller noted that he “could not reliably determine Manafort’s purpose in sharing” the polling data, but also acknowledged (and bolstered) the explanation of his star witness, Rick Gates, that Manafort was motivated by proving his financial value to former and future clients.
Mueller also gave us new reasons to doubt the assertions that Kilimnik himself is a Russian intelligence asset or spy. First, Mueller did not join media pundits in asserting such about Kilimnik. Second, to support his vague contention that Kilimnik has, according to the FBI, “ties to Russian intelligence,” Mueller offered up a list of “pieces of the Office’s Evidence” that contains no direct evidence. For his part, Kilimnik has repeatedly stated that he has no such ties, and recently told The Washington Post that Mueller never attempted to interview him.
8. The Steele Dossier Was Fiction
The Steele dossier—a collection of Democratic National Committee-funded opposition research alleging a high-level Trump-Russia criminal relationship—played a critical role in the Russiagate saga. The FBI relied on it for leads and evidentiary material in its investigation of the Trump campaign ties to Russia, and prominent politicians, pundits, and media outlets promoted it as credible.
The Mueller report, The New York Times noted last week, has “underscored what had grown clearer for months… some of the most sensational claims in the dossier appeared to be false, and others were impossible to prove.” Steele reported that low-level Trump aide Carter Page was offered a 19 percent stake in the state-owned Russian oil company Rosneft if he could get Trump to lift Western sanctions. In October 2016 the FBI, citing the Steele dossier, told the FISA court that it “believes that [Russia’s] efforts are being coordinated with Page and perhaps other individuals associated with” the Trump campaign. The Mueller report though could “not establish that Page coordinated with the Russian government in its efforts to interfere with the 2016 presidential election.”
The Steele dossier claimed that Michael Cohen visited Prague to meet Russian agents in the summer of 2016. In April 2018, McClatchy reported to much fanfare that Mueller’s team has “has evidence” that placed Cohen in Prague during the period in question. Cohen later denied the claim under oath, and Mueller agreed, noting that Cohen “never traveled to Prague.”
After reports emerged in August 2016 that the Trump campaign had rejected an amendment to the Republican National Committee platform that called for arming Ukraine, Steele claimed that it was the result of a quid pro quo. The Mueller report “did not establish that” the rejection of the Ukraine amendment was “undertaken at the behest of candidate Trump or Russia.”
9. The Trump Campaign Had No Secret Channel to WikiLeaks
In January, veteran Republican operative and conspiracy theorist Roger Stone caused a stir when he was indicted for lying to Congress about his efforts to make contact with WikiLeaks. But Mueller’s indictment actually showed that Stone had no communications with WikiLeaks before the election and no privileged information about its releases. Most significantly, it revealed that Trump officials were trying to learn about the WikiLeaks releases through Stone—a fact that underscored that the Trump campaign neither worked with WikiLeaks nor had advance knowledge of its email dumps.
Mueller’s final report does nothing to alter that picture. Its sections on Stone are heavily redacted, owing to Stone’s pending trial. But they do make clear that Mueller conducted an extensive search to establish a tie between WikiLeaks, the Trump campaign, and Stone—and came up empty. New reporting from The Washington Post underscores just how far, and how farcically, their efforts went. The Mueller team devoted time and energy to determine whether far-right conspiracy theorist Jerome Corsi, best known for promoting the false claim that Barack Obama was born outside the United States, served as a link between Stone and WikiLeaks. Mueller’s prosecutors “spent weeks coaxing, cajoling and admonishing the conspiracy theorist, as they pressed him to stick to facts and not reconstruct stories,” the Post reports. “At times, they had debated the nature of memory itself.” It is unsurprising that this led Mueller’s prosecutors to ultimately declare, according to Corsi’s attorney, “We can’t use any of this.”
10. There Was No Cover-Up
The release of Mueller report does not just dispel the conspiracy theories that have engulfed political and media circles for two years; it puts to rest the prevailing one of recent weeks that Attorney General William Barr engaged in a cover-up. According to the dominant narrative, Barr was somehow concealing Mueller’s damning evidence, and Mueller, even more improbably, was staying silent.
One could argue that Barr’s summary downplays the obstruction findings, though it accurately relays that Mueller’s report does “not exonerate” Trump. It was Mueller’s decision to leave the verdict on obstruction to Barr and make clear that if Congress disagrees, it has the power to indict Trump on its own. Mueller’s office assisted with Barr’s redactions, which proved to be, as Barr had pledged, extremely limited. Despite containing numerous embarrassing details about Trump, no executive privilege was invoked to censor the report’s contents.
In the end, Mueller’s report shows that the Trump-Russia collusion narrative embraced and evangelized by the US political and media establishment to be a work of fiction. The American public was presented with a far different picture because leading pundits, outlets, and politicians ignored the countervailing facts and promoted maximalist interpretations of the remaining ones. Anonymous officials also leaked explosive yet uncorroborated claims, leaving behind many stories that were subsequently discredited, retracted, or remain unconfirmed to this day.
It is too early to assess the damage that influential Russiagate promoters have done to their own reputations; to public confidence in our democratic system and media; and to the prospects of defeating Trump, who always stood to benefit if the all-consuming conspiracy theory ultimately collapsed. With Mueller’s report, the collapse has now arrived, and the scale of the wreckage may prove to be the ultimate Russiagate scandal.
Friday, April 26, 2019
From 2018... Self-generated thought: The medial temporal lobe is a key site of thought-generation; the posterior cingulate cortex & inferior parietal lobule have little say
From 2018: Neural origins of self-generated thought: Insights from intracranial electrical stimulation and recordings in humans. Kieran C.R. Fox. Chapter in The Oxford Handbook of Spontaneous Thought: Mind-Wandering, Creativity, and Dreaming, May 2018, DOI: 10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190464745.001.0001
Abstract: Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) has begun to narrow down the neural correlates of self-generated forms of thought, with current evidence pointing toward central roles for the default, frontoparietal, and visual networks. Recent work has linked the arising of thoughts more specifically to default network activity, but the limited temporal resolution of fMRI has precluded more detailed conclusions about where in the brain self-created mental content is generated and how this is achieved. Here I argue that the unparalleled spatiotemporal resolution of intracranial electrophysiology (iEEG) in human epilepsy patients can begin to provide answers to questions about the specific neural origins of self-generated thought. I review the extensive body of literature from iEEG studies over the past few decades and show that many studies involving passive recording or direct electrical stimulation throughout the brain all point to the medial temporal lobe as a key site of thought-generation. At the same time, null effects from other brain regions suggest that various other default network hubs, such as the posterior cingulate cortex and inferior parietal lobule, might have only a marginal role (if any) in the self-generation or initiation of mental content like dreams, visual imagery, memories, and prospective simulations. Ultimately, combining a variety of neuroscientific methods that compensate for each other's weaknesses and complement each other's strengths may prove to be the most effective way to understand the brain's remarkable ability to decouple from the immediate environment and generate its own experiences.
Introduction
An enormous amount of scientific interest has recently begun to focus on spontaneous and self-generated forms of thought (Andrews-Hanna, Smallwood, & Spreng, 2014; Christoff, 2012; Christoff, Irving, Fox, Spreng, & Andrews-Hanna, 2016; Seli, Risko, Smilek, & Schacter, 2016). As experience sampling studies (see Stawarczyk, this volume) and questionnaires develop an understanding of the associated subjective content (Delamillieure et al., 2010; Diaz et al., 2013; Fox, Nijeboer, Solomonova, Domhoff, & Christoff, 2013; Fox, Thompson, Andrews-Hanna, & Christoff, 2014; Stawarczyk, 2017; Stawarczyk, Majerus, Maj, Van der Linden, & D'Argembeau, 2011), functional neuroimaging research over the past two decades has delineated a rough but increasingly refined picture of general brain recruitment associated with these self-generated forms of thought (Fox, Spreng, Ellamil, Andrews-Hanna, & Christoff, 2015). Throughout this chapter, by ‘selfgenerated thought’ I will simply mean mental content that is relatively independent of and unrelated to the immediate sensory environment (Andrews-Hanna et al., 2014; Fox, Andrews-Hanna, & Christoff, 2016); taken broadly, self-generated thought includes mental processes such as stimulus-independent thought (McGuire, Paulesu, Frackowiak, & Frith, 1996), task-unrelated thought (Dumontheil, Gilbert, Frith, & Burgess, 2010), spontaneous thought (Spiers & Maguire, 2006), mind-wandering (Christoff, Gordon, Smallwood, Smith, & Schooler, 2009), creative thinking and insight (Ellamil, Dobson, Beeman, & Christoff, 2012), and dreaming (Fox et al., 2013).
Now that a general picture of the subjective content and neural correlates of selfgenerated thought is emerging, deeper and more subtle questions are being posed: for instance, whether specific neural correlates are associated with specific self-generated content (Gorgolewski et al., 2014; Tusche, Smallwood, Bernhardt, & Singer, 2014); whether differences in brain morphology are associated with individual tendencies toward certain types of self-generated thinking (Bernhardt et al., 2014; Golchert et al., 2017); what the relationship of self-generated thought is to various psychiatric and neurodegenerative conditions (Christoff et al., 2016); and whether specific neural origin sites of self-generated thought can be identified (Fox et al., 2016). It is this final question that I will focus on throughout this chapter: what brain structures are the primary initiators, drivers, and creators when the brain decouples from its sensory environment and self-generates its own experiences? Is this question even valid? Can there be a specific answer?
First, I will very briefly review what is known about the broad neural correlates of self -generated thought from functional neuroimaging investigations. These studies point to the primacy of the default network in initiating self-generated thought, but cannot seem to go beyond this level of specificity and offer a more detailed answer due to their inherently poor temporal resolution. Next, I will delve into the relatively smaller (but fast-growing) human intracranial electrophysiology literature to explore the neural origins of selfgenerated thought in more detail. Starting with the broad set of regions identified by functional neuroimaging as being involved in self-generating thought, I synthesize data from human electrophysiology to hone in on the most likely origin/initiation sites and to tentatively exclude other areas from a primary regenerative role.
Abstract: Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) has begun to narrow down the neural correlates of self-generated forms of thought, with current evidence pointing toward central roles for the default, frontoparietal, and visual networks. Recent work has linked the arising of thoughts more specifically to default network activity, but the limited temporal resolution of fMRI has precluded more detailed conclusions about where in the brain self-created mental content is generated and how this is achieved. Here I argue that the unparalleled spatiotemporal resolution of intracranial electrophysiology (iEEG) in human epilepsy patients can begin to provide answers to questions about the specific neural origins of self-generated thought. I review the extensive body of literature from iEEG studies over the past few decades and show that many studies involving passive recording or direct electrical stimulation throughout the brain all point to the medial temporal lobe as a key site of thought-generation. At the same time, null effects from other brain regions suggest that various other default network hubs, such as the posterior cingulate cortex and inferior parietal lobule, might have only a marginal role (if any) in the self-generation or initiation of mental content like dreams, visual imagery, memories, and prospective simulations. Ultimately, combining a variety of neuroscientific methods that compensate for each other's weaknesses and complement each other's strengths may prove to be the most effective way to understand the brain's remarkable ability to decouple from the immediate environment and generate its own experiences.
Introduction
An enormous amount of scientific interest has recently begun to focus on spontaneous and self-generated forms of thought (Andrews-Hanna, Smallwood, & Spreng, 2014; Christoff, 2012; Christoff, Irving, Fox, Spreng, & Andrews-Hanna, 2016; Seli, Risko, Smilek, & Schacter, 2016). As experience sampling studies (see Stawarczyk, this volume) and questionnaires develop an understanding of the associated subjective content (Delamillieure et al., 2010; Diaz et al., 2013; Fox, Nijeboer, Solomonova, Domhoff, & Christoff, 2013; Fox, Thompson, Andrews-Hanna, & Christoff, 2014; Stawarczyk, 2017; Stawarczyk, Majerus, Maj, Van der Linden, & D'Argembeau, 2011), functional neuroimaging research over the past two decades has delineated a rough but increasingly refined picture of general brain recruitment associated with these self-generated forms of thought (Fox, Spreng, Ellamil, Andrews-Hanna, & Christoff, 2015). Throughout this chapter, by ‘selfgenerated thought’ I will simply mean mental content that is relatively independent of and unrelated to the immediate sensory environment (Andrews-Hanna et al., 2014; Fox, Andrews-Hanna, & Christoff, 2016); taken broadly, self-generated thought includes mental processes such as stimulus-independent thought (McGuire, Paulesu, Frackowiak, & Frith, 1996), task-unrelated thought (Dumontheil, Gilbert, Frith, & Burgess, 2010), spontaneous thought (Spiers & Maguire, 2006), mind-wandering (Christoff, Gordon, Smallwood, Smith, & Schooler, 2009), creative thinking and insight (Ellamil, Dobson, Beeman, & Christoff, 2012), and dreaming (Fox et al., 2013).
Now that a general picture of the subjective content and neural correlates of selfgenerated thought is emerging, deeper and more subtle questions are being posed: for instance, whether specific neural correlates are associated with specific self-generated content (Gorgolewski et al., 2014; Tusche, Smallwood, Bernhardt, & Singer, 2014); whether differences in brain morphology are associated with individual tendencies toward certain types of self-generated thinking (Bernhardt et al., 2014; Golchert et al., 2017); what the relationship of self-generated thought is to various psychiatric and neurodegenerative conditions (Christoff et al., 2016); and whether specific neural origin sites of self-generated thought can be identified (Fox et al., 2016). It is this final question that I will focus on throughout this chapter: what brain structures are the primary initiators, drivers, and creators when the brain decouples from its sensory environment and self-generates its own experiences? Is this question even valid? Can there be a specific answer?
First, I will very briefly review what is known about the broad neural correlates of self -generated thought from functional neuroimaging investigations. These studies point to the primacy of the default network in initiating self-generated thought, but cannot seem to go beyond this level of specificity and offer a more detailed answer due to their inherently poor temporal resolution. Next, I will delve into the relatively smaller (but fast-growing) human intracranial electrophysiology literature to explore the neural origins of selfgenerated thought in more detail. Starting with the broad set of regions identified by functional neuroimaging as being involved in self-generating thought, I synthesize data from human electrophysiology to hone in on the most likely origin/initiation sites and to tentatively exclude other areas from a primary regenerative role.
Across different cultures, women’s preferences generally favor the circumcised penis for sexual activity, hygiene, and lower risk of infection
Morris BJ, Hankins CA, Lumbers ER, et al. Sex and Male Circumcision: Women’s Preferences Across Different Cultures and Countries: A Systematic Review. Sex Med 2019;XX:XXX–XXX. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.esxm.2019.03.003
Abstract
Introduction: Women’s choices for a sexual partner are influenced by numerous personal, cultural, social, political and religious factors, and may also include aspects of penile anatomy such as male circumcision (MC) status.
Aim: To perform a systematic review examining (i) whether MC status influences women’s preference for sexual activity and the reasons for this, and (ii) whether women prefer MC for their sons.
Methods: PRISMA-compliant searches were conducted of PubMed, Google Scholar, Embase, and the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. Articles that met the inclusion criteria were rated for quality using the SIGN system.
Results: Database searches identified 29 publications with original data for inclusion, including 22 for aim (i) and 4 of these and 7 others pertaining to aim (ii). In the overwhelming majority of studies, women expressed a preference for the circumcised penis. The main reasons given for this preference were better appearance, better hygiene, reduced risk of infection, and enhanced sexual activity, including vaginal intercourse, manual stimulation, and fellatio. In studies that assessed mothers’ preference for MC of sons, health, disease prevention, and hygiene were cited as major reasons for this preference. Cultural differences in preference were evident among some of the studies examined. Nevertheless, a preference for a circumcised penis was seen in most populations regardless of the frequency of MC in the study setting.
Conclusion: Women’s preferences generally favor the circumcised penis for sexual activity, hygiene, and lower risk of infection. The findings add to the already well-established health benefits favoring MC and provide important sociosexual information on an issue of widespread interest.
Introduction
Precopulatory mate choices by females based on male genital traits occur in diverse species.1 In early naked Homo sapiens, upright body posture and protruding nonretractile male genitalia made for a particularly conspicuous penis, even when flaccid. This has led evolutionary biologists to suggest that premating sexual selection resulted in evolution of the comparatively large penis of humans relative to other primates. A study of heterosexual women of various races found an association of penis size with attractiveness.2 Tallness and greater shoulder-to-hip ratio also are associated with male attractiveness. The authors concluded that female mate choice could have driven the evolution of larger penises in humans. However, modifications to penis size also could have been driven by changes in the female reproductive tract associated with bipedal locomotion and the large head size of the human infant.3 Although in recent millennia the adoption of clothing covering the genitals has precluded women’s perception of a potential partner’s penile features at first encounter, those would likely become evident once intimacy occurs.
Another feature of the human penis is male circumcision (MC) status. MC is an ancient practice3, 4 that may have emerged in Africa and accompanied the radiation of H sapiens out of that continent3, 5 approximately 220,000 years ago.6 For example, evidence from portable art and rock art suggests that MC was practiced in Europe during the Upper Paleolithic (38000–11000 BCE).4
Privation stemming from Ice Ages and other forces may explain why MC subsequently ceased in European, northern Asian, and some other cultures.3 In the nineteenth century, the perception of health benefits, such as improved hygiene and protection against syphilis,7 balanitis, and phimosis,8, 9 is the likely explanation for the reemergence of MC in some Anglophone countries, particularly the United States.3 The US occupation of South Korea may explain why MC became popular there after World War II, whereas in the Philippines it was already an accepted practice before the US presence.10, 11 Globally, MC is common in diverse cultures, driven largely by religious and social customs, with an overall prevalence of 37%–39%.12
MC is just one of many factors that influence a woman’s choice of a male partner, others being religion, race, social class, personality, overall attractiveness, ability to provide for the woman and her offspring, ability to satisfy the woman sexually, and basic hygiene. Nevertheless, the attitudes and sexual experience of women regarding MC is an important research question. This is especially true given the health benefits provided by MC for men and their sexual partners, as well as women’s important influence in deciding whether their sons will be circumcised.
In the present study, we aimed to provide a systematic review of the scientific evidence examining women’s attitudes and preferences for MC in their male partners and male children.
Abstract
Introduction: Women’s choices for a sexual partner are influenced by numerous personal, cultural, social, political and religious factors, and may also include aspects of penile anatomy such as male circumcision (MC) status.
Aim: To perform a systematic review examining (i) whether MC status influences women’s preference for sexual activity and the reasons for this, and (ii) whether women prefer MC for their sons.
Methods: PRISMA-compliant searches were conducted of PubMed, Google Scholar, Embase, and the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. Articles that met the inclusion criteria were rated for quality using the SIGN system.
Results: Database searches identified 29 publications with original data for inclusion, including 22 for aim (i) and 4 of these and 7 others pertaining to aim (ii). In the overwhelming majority of studies, women expressed a preference for the circumcised penis. The main reasons given for this preference were better appearance, better hygiene, reduced risk of infection, and enhanced sexual activity, including vaginal intercourse, manual stimulation, and fellatio. In studies that assessed mothers’ preference for MC of sons, health, disease prevention, and hygiene were cited as major reasons for this preference. Cultural differences in preference were evident among some of the studies examined. Nevertheless, a preference for a circumcised penis was seen in most populations regardless of the frequency of MC in the study setting.
Conclusion: Women’s preferences generally favor the circumcised penis for sexual activity, hygiene, and lower risk of infection. The findings add to the already well-established health benefits favoring MC and provide important sociosexual information on an issue of widespread interest.
Introduction
Precopulatory mate choices by females based on male genital traits occur in diverse species.1 In early naked Homo sapiens, upright body posture and protruding nonretractile male genitalia made for a particularly conspicuous penis, even when flaccid. This has led evolutionary biologists to suggest that premating sexual selection resulted in evolution of the comparatively large penis of humans relative to other primates. A study of heterosexual women of various races found an association of penis size with attractiveness.2 Tallness and greater shoulder-to-hip ratio also are associated with male attractiveness. The authors concluded that female mate choice could have driven the evolution of larger penises in humans. However, modifications to penis size also could have been driven by changes in the female reproductive tract associated with bipedal locomotion and the large head size of the human infant.3 Although in recent millennia the adoption of clothing covering the genitals has precluded women’s perception of a potential partner’s penile features at first encounter, those would likely become evident once intimacy occurs.
Another feature of the human penis is male circumcision (MC) status. MC is an ancient practice3, 4 that may have emerged in Africa and accompanied the radiation of H sapiens out of that continent3, 5 approximately 220,000 years ago.6 For example, evidence from portable art and rock art suggests that MC was practiced in Europe during the Upper Paleolithic (38000–11000 BCE).4
Privation stemming from Ice Ages and other forces may explain why MC subsequently ceased in European, northern Asian, and some other cultures.3 In the nineteenth century, the perception of health benefits, such as improved hygiene and protection against syphilis,7 balanitis, and phimosis,8, 9 is the likely explanation for the reemergence of MC in some Anglophone countries, particularly the United States.3 The US occupation of South Korea may explain why MC became popular there after World War II, whereas in the Philippines it was already an accepted practice before the US presence.10, 11 Globally, MC is common in diverse cultures, driven largely by religious and social customs, with an overall prevalence of 37%–39%.12
MC is just one of many factors that influence a woman’s choice of a male partner, others being religion, race, social class, personality, overall attractiveness, ability to provide for the woman and her offspring, ability to satisfy the woman sexually, and basic hygiene. Nevertheless, the attitudes and sexual experience of women regarding MC is an important research question. This is especially true given the health benefits provided by MC for men and their sexual partners, as well as women’s important influence in deciding whether their sons will be circumcised.
In the present study, we aimed to provide a systematic review of the scientific evidence examining women’s attitudes and preferences for MC in their male partners and male children.
The Social Life of Class Clowns: Class Clown Behavior Is Associated With More Friends, but Also More Aggressive Behavior in the Classroom
The Social Life of Class Clowns: Class Clown Behavior Is Associated With More Friends, but Also More Aggressive Behavior in the Classroom. Lisa Wagner. Front. Psychol., April 26 2019, https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00604
Abstract: A dimensional rather than a typological approach to studying class clown behavior was recently proposed (Ruch et al., 2014). In the present study, four dimensions of class clown behavior (class clown role, comic talent, disruptive rule-breaker, and subversive joker) were used to investigate the associations between class clown behavior and indicators of social status and social functioning in the classroom in a sample of N = 300 students attending grades 6 to 9 (mean age: 13.09 years, 47.7% male). Participants and their teachers completed measures of class clown behavior, and peer nominations of peer acceptance, mutual friends as well as social behavior in the classroom (popular-leadership, aggressive-disruptive, sensitive-isolated, and prosocial behaviors) were collected. The results showed that overall, class clown behavior was positively related to peer acceptance, the number of mutual friends in the classroom and peer-perceived social status. Overall, it was also positively related to peer-rated popular-leadership and aggressive-disruptive behaviors, as well as negatively related to prosocial behaviors. When considering the four dimensions of class clown behavior, comic talent was particularly relevant for the relationship with social status and with popular-leadership behaviors, but also with aggressive-disruptive behaviors. Aggressive-disruptive behaviors were also particularly related to the class clown dimension disruptive rule-breaker. The results underline the significance of class clown behavior for the social status and functioning of students and may help further understand the phenomenon in its multidimensional nature.
Introduction
Relationships with peers impact well-being throughout the entire life span. However, the influence that peers exert on many areas of life seems to be most pervasive in early adolescence (see Parker et al., 2006). The impact of peer relationships spans from the development of cognitive and social skills, to maladaptive functioning and physical and psychological well-being (e.g., Hartup and Stevens, 1999; Parker et al., 2006; Rubin et al., 2015). Of particular importance for child adolescent development are peer relationships and social functioning in the classroom (e.g., Berndt and Ladd, 1989). In terms of how to assess social functioning in the classroom, peer nomination procedures such as the Revised Class Play (Masten et al., 1985), have demonstrated their ability to predict important life outcomes, such as academic and job success, social and romantic competence as well as internalizing and externalizing symptoms, for time spans of up to 10 years (Gest et al., 2006). Four areas of social behavior are typically distinguished (e.g., Realmuto et al., 1997; Zeller et al., 2003), two of which are adaptive (popular-leadership and prosocial behavior) and two of which are maladaptive (sensitive-isolated and aggressive-disruptive).
Next to social behavior in the classroom as perceived by the classmates, also the social status, that is peer acceptance and the number of mutual friends in the classroom, is an important indicator of positive peer relationships in adolescence, that has demonstrated its relevance for many important life outcomes. Peer acceptance is a unilateral construct that describes being liked by one’s classmates, whereas mutual friends are defined by a bilateral understanding, i.e., friendship nominations by both friends (Rubin et al., 2006; Waldrip et al., 2008; Bagwell and Schmidt, 2011). While many studies have focused on the impact of having versus not having a mutual friend, research also shows that it matters how many mutual friends an adolescent has. For instance, Gest et al. (2001) found the number of friends to uniquely predict prosocial behavior. Students who are highly accepted, that is well-liked, by their peers have been found to show a range of highly desirable characteristics, for example behaving appropriately, communicating well, and being perceived as helpful, cooperative, and good leaders by other students (Rubin et al., 2006). Peer acceptance was also found to be related to academic and athletic accomplishments (e.g., Asher and McDonald, 2009). In addition, being well-accepted by peers and having many friends has also been associated with individual differences in sense of humor (e.g., McGhee, 1989; Wanzer et al., 1996; Gest et al., 2001). [...].
Humor has been identified as a strength of character, and humans tend to find the expression of their signature (i.e., most characteristic) character strengths fulfilling (Peterson and Seligman, 2004). Individuals with the signature strength of humor tend to express humor in their behavior across different contexts and might thus earn a reputation for their humor in their social networks which might result in others using type nouns (like joker, wit, buffoon, or mocking bird) to refer to them (Craik and Ware, 2007). Often people using humor play a function in the institution they are in, such as the “organizational fool” (Kets de Vries, 1990) and the “class clown” (e.g., Damico and Purkey, 1978). Humor is a way of highlighting signs of hubris in leaders, of addressing taboo topics, and of relaxing strained situations. Thus, the institutional fool may satirize leaders and followers. As the truth is spoken in a fun manner, it can trespass on otherwise forbidden territory. Thus, the organizational fool can create a corrective force against the leadership in institutions and be a mediator between leader and followers.
There are comparable circumstances in the classroom where teachers typically socialize children into school culture. The teacher mostly decides who will speak, when, and about what, and also decides what he or she can conceive from the students. Oppositional students – and among these, students considered class clowns – might negotiate power in their classroom communities, and try to resist the set order during classroom lessons (McLaren, 1985; Radigan, 2001; Norrick and Klein, 2008). A class clown may become the opponent of the teacher; poke fun at the teacher’s words and action and undermine his authority, in front of the teacher or behind their backs. From the teachers’ perspective, students described as class clowns are mostly viewed as difficult students that require being disciplined (see e.g., Cohen and Fish, 1993; Hobday-Kusch and McVittie, 2002). Analyzing accounts of humorous situations in the classroom initiated by students toward teachers, Meeus and Mahieu (2009) found that while testing out, rebellion, and misbehavior were common motives identified, also positive motives, such as humor as atmosphere maker, played a role in these accounts.
The first significant study of class clowns (Damico and Purkey, 1976, 1978) identified 96 mostly male class clowns in a sample of 3,500 eighth graders. Compared to a control sample, class clowns were seen by teachers as significantly higher on asserting behaviors, attention seeking, unruliness, leadership, and cheerfulness, but lower in accomplishing, which was defined as “behaviors leading to successful completion of academic assignments” (p. 393). Relative to other students, the class clowns self-reported seeing school authorities, such as teachers or the principal, less positively, but there was no significant difference in class clowns’ attitudes toward classmates, the school in general, and the self. In this study by Damico and Purkey (1978), only students that received 10 or more nominations by their peers were considered a class clown and those that received 25 or more nominations were “super class clowns.” [...]
Going beyond previous conceptualizations of class clowns as a distinct “type” or categorical concept, Ruch et al. (2014) suggested an alternative approach to study class clown behavior, which is based on a variable-centered or dimensional view. That is, they assume a general dimension of class clown behavior, but also different related facets that can be used to describe class clown behavior further. These can be assessed using the Class Clown Behavior Survey (CCBS; Platt, 2012). The hierarchical model proposes a general factor of class clown behavior (as measured by the total score of the CCBS) as well as four lower-order dimensions of class clown behavior, which are positively correlated with class clown behavior. The first dimension, class clown role, consists of being labeled as the class clown by oneself and others (sample item of the CCBS: “My classmates would call me a class clown”). The second dimension, comic talent, describes being quick-witted, liking to entertain others with funny things, and spreading a good mood. It describes behavior that is not necessarily directed against the teacher or questioning the rules at school (sample item: “During class it does not take long until something funny comes into my mind that I can share with the person next to me”). The third dimension, disruptive rule-breaker, is characterized by poking fun at the teachers, not taking school rules seriously, and directly challenging the authority (sample item: “Some rules in class I find stupid and I laugh at them”). Similarly, in the fourth dimension, subversive joker, the class clown behavior is also aimed at undermining the teachers’ authority or directed against classmates. However, it is done behind the teacher’s back instead of in a direct confrontation (sample item: “When my teacher turns away, I invent jokes that I write on paper to show it to my classmates”).
[...]. Overall, the results of these two studies suggest that different dimensions of class clown behavior can be distinguished, that class clown behavior has both upsides and downsides, and that looking beyond the question of whether or not someone is labeled as “class clown” provides the possibility to gain a deeper insight into the correlates of class clown behavior.
There is some evidence of a relationship between class clown behavior and social status. Damico and Purkey (1978) concluded that their adolescent class clowns were found to have many behaviors and personal assessments in common with adult wits, and among the list of attributes (e.g., being male, leaders, active, independent, creative, and having positive self-perceptions), class clowns are also described as more popular. Likewise, Suitor et al. (2004) report that for male adolescents in private schools, class clowning is a successful route to gain prestige (more so than clothes or car ownership). A recent study by Barnett (2018) looked at the consequences of younger children’s playfulness in the classroom. The study found peer-rated social status to be unrelated with self-ratings of being a class clown (which had a rather low mean and variance) and positively related with peer-ratings of being a class clown. This study also underlined the relevance of sex differences: Although the relationships were present in boys and girls in the peer ratings, teachers had a stronger tendency to designate boys as “class clowns” than girls and teacher-rated class clown status was positively related to social status for girls, and negatively related to social status for boys.
Abstract: A dimensional rather than a typological approach to studying class clown behavior was recently proposed (Ruch et al., 2014). In the present study, four dimensions of class clown behavior (class clown role, comic talent, disruptive rule-breaker, and subversive joker) were used to investigate the associations between class clown behavior and indicators of social status and social functioning in the classroom in a sample of N = 300 students attending grades 6 to 9 (mean age: 13.09 years, 47.7% male). Participants and their teachers completed measures of class clown behavior, and peer nominations of peer acceptance, mutual friends as well as social behavior in the classroom (popular-leadership, aggressive-disruptive, sensitive-isolated, and prosocial behaviors) were collected. The results showed that overall, class clown behavior was positively related to peer acceptance, the number of mutual friends in the classroom and peer-perceived social status. Overall, it was also positively related to peer-rated popular-leadership and aggressive-disruptive behaviors, as well as negatively related to prosocial behaviors. When considering the four dimensions of class clown behavior, comic talent was particularly relevant for the relationship with social status and with popular-leadership behaviors, but also with aggressive-disruptive behaviors. Aggressive-disruptive behaviors were also particularly related to the class clown dimension disruptive rule-breaker. The results underline the significance of class clown behavior for the social status and functioning of students and may help further understand the phenomenon in its multidimensional nature.
Introduction
Relationships with peers impact well-being throughout the entire life span. However, the influence that peers exert on many areas of life seems to be most pervasive in early adolescence (see Parker et al., 2006). The impact of peer relationships spans from the development of cognitive and social skills, to maladaptive functioning and physical and psychological well-being (e.g., Hartup and Stevens, 1999; Parker et al., 2006; Rubin et al., 2015). Of particular importance for child adolescent development are peer relationships and social functioning in the classroom (e.g., Berndt and Ladd, 1989). In terms of how to assess social functioning in the classroom, peer nomination procedures such as the Revised Class Play (Masten et al., 1985), have demonstrated their ability to predict important life outcomes, such as academic and job success, social and romantic competence as well as internalizing and externalizing symptoms, for time spans of up to 10 years (Gest et al., 2006). Four areas of social behavior are typically distinguished (e.g., Realmuto et al., 1997; Zeller et al., 2003), two of which are adaptive (popular-leadership and prosocial behavior) and two of which are maladaptive (sensitive-isolated and aggressive-disruptive).
Next to social behavior in the classroom as perceived by the classmates, also the social status, that is peer acceptance and the number of mutual friends in the classroom, is an important indicator of positive peer relationships in adolescence, that has demonstrated its relevance for many important life outcomes. Peer acceptance is a unilateral construct that describes being liked by one’s classmates, whereas mutual friends are defined by a bilateral understanding, i.e., friendship nominations by both friends (Rubin et al., 2006; Waldrip et al., 2008; Bagwell and Schmidt, 2011). While many studies have focused on the impact of having versus not having a mutual friend, research also shows that it matters how many mutual friends an adolescent has. For instance, Gest et al. (2001) found the number of friends to uniquely predict prosocial behavior. Students who are highly accepted, that is well-liked, by their peers have been found to show a range of highly desirable characteristics, for example behaving appropriately, communicating well, and being perceived as helpful, cooperative, and good leaders by other students (Rubin et al., 2006). Peer acceptance was also found to be related to academic and athletic accomplishments (e.g., Asher and McDonald, 2009). In addition, being well-accepted by peers and having many friends has also been associated with individual differences in sense of humor (e.g., McGhee, 1989; Wanzer et al., 1996; Gest et al., 2001). [...].
Humor has been identified as a strength of character, and humans tend to find the expression of their signature (i.e., most characteristic) character strengths fulfilling (Peterson and Seligman, 2004). Individuals with the signature strength of humor tend to express humor in their behavior across different contexts and might thus earn a reputation for their humor in their social networks which might result in others using type nouns (like joker, wit, buffoon, or mocking bird) to refer to them (Craik and Ware, 2007). Often people using humor play a function in the institution they are in, such as the “organizational fool” (Kets de Vries, 1990) and the “class clown” (e.g., Damico and Purkey, 1978). Humor is a way of highlighting signs of hubris in leaders, of addressing taboo topics, and of relaxing strained situations. Thus, the institutional fool may satirize leaders and followers. As the truth is spoken in a fun manner, it can trespass on otherwise forbidden territory. Thus, the organizational fool can create a corrective force against the leadership in institutions and be a mediator between leader and followers.
There are comparable circumstances in the classroom where teachers typically socialize children into school culture. The teacher mostly decides who will speak, when, and about what, and also decides what he or she can conceive from the students. Oppositional students – and among these, students considered class clowns – might negotiate power in their classroom communities, and try to resist the set order during classroom lessons (McLaren, 1985; Radigan, 2001; Norrick and Klein, 2008). A class clown may become the opponent of the teacher; poke fun at the teacher’s words and action and undermine his authority, in front of the teacher or behind their backs. From the teachers’ perspective, students described as class clowns are mostly viewed as difficult students that require being disciplined (see e.g., Cohen and Fish, 1993; Hobday-Kusch and McVittie, 2002). Analyzing accounts of humorous situations in the classroom initiated by students toward teachers, Meeus and Mahieu (2009) found that while testing out, rebellion, and misbehavior were common motives identified, also positive motives, such as humor as atmosphere maker, played a role in these accounts.
The first significant study of class clowns (Damico and Purkey, 1976, 1978) identified 96 mostly male class clowns in a sample of 3,500 eighth graders. Compared to a control sample, class clowns were seen by teachers as significantly higher on asserting behaviors, attention seeking, unruliness, leadership, and cheerfulness, but lower in accomplishing, which was defined as “behaviors leading to successful completion of academic assignments” (p. 393). Relative to other students, the class clowns self-reported seeing school authorities, such as teachers or the principal, less positively, but there was no significant difference in class clowns’ attitudes toward classmates, the school in general, and the self. In this study by Damico and Purkey (1978), only students that received 10 or more nominations by their peers were considered a class clown and those that received 25 or more nominations were “super class clowns.” [...]
Going beyond previous conceptualizations of class clowns as a distinct “type” or categorical concept, Ruch et al. (2014) suggested an alternative approach to study class clown behavior, which is based on a variable-centered or dimensional view. That is, they assume a general dimension of class clown behavior, but also different related facets that can be used to describe class clown behavior further. These can be assessed using the Class Clown Behavior Survey (CCBS; Platt, 2012). The hierarchical model proposes a general factor of class clown behavior (as measured by the total score of the CCBS) as well as four lower-order dimensions of class clown behavior, which are positively correlated with class clown behavior. The first dimension, class clown role, consists of being labeled as the class clown by oneself and others (sample item of the CCBS: “My classmates would call me a class clown”). The second dimension, comic talent, describes being quick-witted, liking to entertain others with funny things, and spreading a good mood. It describes behavior that is not necessarily directed against the teacher or questioning the rules at school (sample item: “During class it does not take long until something funny comes into my mind that I can share with the person next to me”). The third dimension, disruptive rule-breaker, is characterized by poking fun at the teachers, not taking school rules seriously, and directly challenging the authority (sample item: “Some rules in class I find stupid and I laugh at them”). Similarly, in the fourth dimension, subversive joker, the class clown behavior is also aimed at undermining the teachers’ authority or directed against classmates. However, it is done behind the teacher’s back instead of in a direct confrontation (sample item: “When my teacher turns away, I invent jokes that I write on paper to show it to my classmates”).
[...]. Overall, the results of these two studies suggest that different dimensions of class clown behavior can be distinguished, that class clown behavior has both upsides and downsides, and that looking beyond the question of whether or not someone is labeled as “class clown” provides the possibility to gain a deeper insight into the correlates of class clown behavior.
There is some evidence of a relationship between class clown behavior and social status. Damico and Purkey (1978) concluded that their adolescent class clowns were found to have many behaviors and personal assessments in common with adult wits, and among the list of attributes (e.g., being male, leaders, active, independent, creative, and having positive self-perceptions), class clowns are also described as more popular. Likewise, Suitor et al. (2004) report that for male adolescents in private schools, class clowning is a successful route to gain prestige (more so than clothes or car ownership). A recent study by Barnett (2018) looked at the consequences of younger children’s playfulness in the classroom. The study found peer-rated social status to be unrelated with self-ratings of being a class clown (which had a rather low mean and variance) and positively related with peer-ratings of being a class clown. This study also underlined the relevance of sex differences: Although the relationships were present in boys and girls in the peer ratings, teachers had a stronger tendency to designate boys as “class clowns” than girls and teacher-rated class clown status was positively related to social status for girls, and negatively related to social status for boys.
Thursday, April 25, 2019
The U.S. saving rate declined by 8 percent between 1980 and 2009; we document that the decline can be explained by rising health expenditures
Explaining the decline of the US saving rate: The role of health expenditure. Yi Chen, Maurizio Mazzocco, Béla Személy. International Economic Review, April 17 2019. https://doi.org/10.1111/iere.12405
Abstract: The U.S. saving rate declined by 8 percent between 1980 and 2009. We document that the decline can be explained by rising health expenditures. Using exogenous variation in medical expenses generated by FDA drug approvals, we document that a 1 percentage point increase in health expenditure generated a decline in saving rate of 0.9 percentage points. We then estimate a model of household decisions to evaluate the mechanisms behind the decline. We find that the rise in health expenses and drop in saving rate are driven by progress in health technology, reduction in co‐payment rates, and improvements in income processes.
Abstract: The U.S. saving rate declined by 8 percent between 1980 and 2009. We document that the decline can be explained by rising health expenditures. Using exogenous variation in medical expenses generated by FDA drug approvals, we document that a 1 percentage point increase in health expenditure generated a decline in saving rate of 0.9 percentage points. We then estimate a model of household decisions to evaluate the mechanisms behind the decline. We find that the rise in health expenses and drop in saving rate are driven by progress in health technology, reduction in co‐payment rates, and improvements in income processes.
Greater exposure to “high-achieving” boys decreases the likelihood that girls go on to complete a bachelor's degree, affects negatively their math & science grades, decreases labor force participation
Girls, Boys, and High Achievers. Angela Cools, Raquel Fernández, Eleonora Patacchini.
NBER Working Paper No. 25763, April 2019. https://www.nber.org/papers/w25763
Abstract: This paper studies the effect of exposure to female and male “high-achievers” in high school on the long-run educational outcomes of their peers. Using data from a recent cohort of students in the United States, we identify a causal effect by exploiting quasi-random variation in the exposure of students to peers with highly educated parents across cohorts within a school. We find that greater exposure to “high-achieving” boys, as proxied by their parents' education, decreases the likelihood that girls go on to complete a bachelor's degree, substituting the latter with junior college degrees. It also affects negatively their math and science grades and, in the long term, decreases labor force participation and increases fertility. We explore possible mechanisms and find that greater exposure leads to lower self-confidence and aspirations and to more risky behavior (including having a child before age 18). The girls most strongly affected are those in the bottom half of the ability distribution (as measured by the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test), those with at least one college-educated parent, and those attending a school in the upper half of the socioeconomic distribution. The effects are quantitatively important: an increase of one standard deviation in the percent of “high-achieving” boys decreases the probability of obtaining a bachelor's degree from 2.2-4.5 percentage points, depending on the group. Greater exposure to “high-achieving” girls, on the other hand, increases bachelor's degree attainment for girls in the lower half of the ability distribution, those without a college-educated parent, and those attending a school in the upper half of the socio-economic distribution. The effect of “high-achievers” on male outcomes is markedly different: boys are unaffected by “high-achievers” of either gender.
NBER Working Paper No. 25763, April 2019. https://www.nber.org/papers/w25763
Abstract: This paper studies the effect of exposure to female and male “high-achievers” in high school on the long-run educational outcomes of their peers. Using data from a recent cohort of students in the United States, we identify a causal effect by exploiting quasi-random variation in the exposure of students to peers with highly educated parents across cohorts within a school. We find that greater exposure to “high-achieving” boys, as proxied by their parents' education, decreases the likelihood that girls go on to complete a bachelor's degree, substituting the latter with junior college degrees. It also affects negatively their math and science grades and, in the long term, decreases labor force participation and increases fertility. We explore possible mechanisms and find that greater exposure leads to lower self-confidence and aspirations and to more risky behavior (including having a child before age 18). The girls most strongly affected are those in the bottom half of the ability distribution (as measured by the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test), those with at least one college-educated parent, and those attending a school in the upper half of the socioeconomic distribution. The effects are quantitatively important: an increase of one standard deviation in the percent of “high-achieving” boys decreases the probability of obtaining a bachelor's degree from 2.2-4.5 percentage points, depending on the group. Greater exposure to “high-achieving” girls, on the other hand, increases bachelor's degree attainment for girls in the lower half of the ability distribution, those without a college-educated parent, and those attending a school in the upper half of the socio-economic distribution. The effect of “high-achievers” on male outcomes is markedly different: boys are unaffected by “high-achievers” of either gender.
Homosexual orientation is associated with higher odds of erectile dysfunction and lower odds of premature ejaculation compared with heterosexual orientation
Barbonetti A, D’Andrea S, Cavallo F, et al. Erectile Dysfunction and Premature Ejaculation in Homosexual and Heterosexual Men: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Comparative Studies. J Sex Med 2019;16:624–632. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsxm.2019.02.014
Abstract
Introduction: Comparative studies on differences in sexual function outcomes between homosexual and heterosexual men are sparse and inconclusive.
Aim: To systematically evaluate whether, and to what extent, a statistically significant difference exists in the odds of erectile dysfunction (ED) and premature ejaculation (PE) between homosexual and heterosexual men.
Methods: A thorough search of Medline, SCOPUS, CINAHL, and Web of Science databases was carried out to identify case-control studies comparing the prevalence of ED and PE in homosexual and heterosexual men. Methodological quality of the included studies was assessed using the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale. Odds ratios (ORs) of reporting ED and PE were combined using random effect models. The Cochrane Q and I2 tests were carried out to analyze the between-studies heterogeneity. Funnel plots and trim-and-fill analysis were used to assess publication bias.
Main Outcome Measures: The relationship between sexual orientation and odds of ED and PE was assessed by calculating pooled ORs with a 95% CI.
Results: 4 studies included in the quantitative analysis collectively provided information on 1,807 homosexual and 4,055 heterosexual men. The pooled ORs indicated that homosexual orientation was associated with 1.5-fold higher odds of reporting ED (OR = 1.49, 95% CI = 1.03–2.16; P = .04) and 28.0% lower odds of reporting PE in comparison to the heterosexual orientation (OR = 0.72, 95% CI = 0.52–1.00; P = .05). However, a significant heterogeneity among the studies was observed. Funnel plots revealed a possible publication bias only for the ED analysis, where the trim-and-fill test detected a putative missing study. Nevertheless, even when the pooled estimate was adjusted for publication bias, there was a significantly higher risk of ED in the homosexual group (adjusted OR = 1.60, 95% CI = 1.10–2.30; P = .01).
Clinical Implications: These findings can drive future studies on sexual needs and concerns of homosexual men, which might not exactly match those of heterosexual individuals.
Strength & Limitations: This is the first meta-analysis exploring the differences in the prevalence of ED and PE between homosexual and heterosexual men. However, the results should be interpreted with caution, because their generalization could be hindered by the non-probabilistic nature of the samples, and a measurement bias could result from the use of different non-standardized indicators of sexual dysfunctions.
Conclusion: Homosexual orientation is associated with higher odds of ED and lower odds of PE compared with heterosexual orientation. Further studies are warranted to elucidate the clinical significance of these findings and whether they reflect differences in patterns of sexual lifestyle.
Abstract
Introduction: Comparative studies on differences in sexual function outcomes between homosexual and heterosexual men are sparse and inconclusive.
Aim: To systematically evaluate whether, and to what extent, a statistically significant difference exists in the odds of erectile dysfunction (ED) and premature ejaculation (PE) between homosexual and heterosexual men.
Methods: A thorough search of Medline, SCOPUS, CINAHL, and Web of Science databases was carried out to identify case-control studies comparing the prevalence of ED and PE in homosexual and heterosexual men. Methodological quality of the included studies was assessed using the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale. Odds ratios (ORs) of reporting ED and PE were combined using random effect models. The Cochrane Q and I2 tests were carried out to analyze the between-studies heterogeneity. Funnel plots and trim-and-fill analysis were used to assess publication bias.
Main Outcome Measures: The relationship between sexual orientation and odds of ED and PE was assessed by calculating pooled ORs with a 95% CI.
Results: 4 studies included in the quantitative analysis collectively provided information on 1,807 homosexual and 4,055 heterosexual men. The pooled ORs indicated that homosexual orientation was associated with 1.5-fold higher odds of reporting ED (OR = 1.49, 95% CI = 1.03–2.16; P = .04) and 28.0% lower odds of reporting PE in comparison to the heterosexual orientation (OR = 0.72, 95% CI = 0.52–1.00; P = .05). However, a significant heterogeneity among the studies was observed. Funnel plots revealed a possible publication bias only for the ED analysis, where the trim-and-fill test detected a putative missing study. Nevertheless, even when the pooled estimate was adjusted for publication bias, there was a significantly higher risk of ED in the homosexual group (adjusted OR = 1.60, 95% CI = 1.10–2.30; P = .01).
Clinical Implications: These findings can drive future studies on sexual needs and concerns of homosexual men, which might not exactly match those of heterosexual individuals.
Strength & Limitations: This is the first meta-analysis exploring the differences in the prevalence of ED and PE between homosexual and heterosexual men. However, the results should be interpreted with caution, because their generalization could be hindered by the non-probabilistic nature of the samples, and a measurement bias could result from the use of different non-standardized indicators of sexual dysfunctions.
Conclusion: Homosexual orientation is associated with higher odds of ED and lower odds of PE compared with heterosexual orientation. Further studies are warranted to elucidate the clinical significance of these findings and whether they reflect differences in patterns of sexual lifestyle.
Frozen Goals (neither actively working to achieve the goal nor abandon it): 92% reported having at least one frozen goal in their life, thereby demonstrating that frozen goals are not attributable to individual differences
Davydenko, M., Werner, K. M., & Milyavskaya, M. (2019). Frozen Goals: Identifying and Defining a New Type of Goal. Collabra: Psychology, 5(1), 17. DOI: http://doi.org/10.1525/collabra.194
Abstract: Goals pursuit involves multiple stages from setting the goal to actively pursuing the goal to finally achieving or abandoning the goal. Sometimes, however, individuals may set a goal and take some steps towards achieving it, but after some time they are neither actively working to achieve the goal nor abandon the goal. We describe such goals as ‘frozen goals’: personally important goals that individuals remain committed to (and so are not abandoned), yet no steps are actively taken towards attaining the goal. Across three studies we demonstrate the prevalence of frozen goals (Study 1) and examine differences between frozen goals and current goals that are actively pursued (Study 2) and between current frozen goals and past frozen goals (Study 3). In Study 1 we find that 92% of the sample reported having at least one frozen goal in their life, thereby demonstrating that frozen goals are not attributable to individual differences. In Study 2, we found that participants randomly assigned to describe a frozen goal reported making less progress, were less committed to, and considered the frozen goals less important than current goals. However, frozen goal commitment and importance was significantly greater than the scale midpoint, suggesting that frozen goals are nonetheless important. Across the studies, we found that frozen goals are common and are maintained for many years with very little progress, but that shifts from frozen to active or abandoned goals are possible. This research opens many avenues for new questions and new perspectives on goal pursuit and goal setting.
Keywords: goal pursuit, motivation, autonomy, self regulation , goal progress
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In certain aspects, frozen goals seem like nothing more than fantasies of what people want to achieve. However, although some elements of frozen goals and fantasies may overlap (e.g., lack of effort, progress), frozen goals are more than merely fantasies (i.e., images of future experiences of desired events, independent of reality; Oettingen et al., 2001). Unlike fantasies, frozen goals are considered important to both have and to achieve (Study 1–3). If people approached their frozen goals as they do fantasies, there would be no need for achievement because a fantasy does not need to be achieved. By definition, fantasies are independent of the likelihood that they will actually occur (Oettingen et al., 2001). All present studies demonstrated that frozen goals are not limited to certain types of aspirational goals that are beyond the realm of achievement; the types of frozen goals people have (e.g., lose weight, buy a house) are indeed achievable goals. Not only are frozen goals attainable in principle, individuals also report believing they will attain the goal at some point in the future, thereby distinguishing them from fantasies or from irrevocable goals (Miceli, & Castelfranchi, 2017). Furthermore, we found no differences in positive or negative affect when individuals thought about the frozen goals they achieved, abandoned, or are currently maintaining, suggesting that, unlike irrevocable goals, frozen goals do not impact one’s emotional well-being.
Abstract: Goals pursuit involves multiple stages from setting the goal to actively pursuing the goal to finally achieving or abandoning the goal. Sometimes, however, individuals may set a goal and take some steps towards achieving it, but after some time they are neither actively working to achieve the goal nor abandon the goal. We describe such goals as ‘frozen goals’: personally important goals that individuals remain committed to (and so are not abandoned), yet no steps are actively taken towards attaining the goal. Across three studies we demonstrate the prevalence of frozen goals (Study 1) and examine differences between frozen goals and current goals that are actively pursued (Study 2) and between current frozen goals and past frozen goals (Study 3). In Study 1 we find that 92% of the sample reported having at least one frozen goal in their life, thereby demonstrating that frozen goals are not attributable to individual differences. In Study 2, we found that participants randomly assigned to describe a frozen goal reported making less progress, were less committed to, and considered the frozen goals less important than current goals. However, frozen goal commitment and importance was significantly greater than the scale midpoint, suggesting that frozen goals are nonetheless important. Across the studies, we found that frozen goals are common and are maintained for many years with very little progress, but that shifts from frozen to active or abandoned goals are possible. This research opens many avenues for new questions and new perspectives on goal pursuit and goal setting.
Keywords: goal pursuit, motivation, autonomy, self regulation , goal progress
---
In certain aspects, frozen goals seem like nothing more than fantasies of what people want to achieve. However, although some elements of frozen goals and fantasies may overlap (e.g., lack of effort, progress), frozen goals are more than merely fantasies (i.e., images of future experiences of desired events, independent of reality; Oettingen et al., 2001). Unlike fantasies, frozen goals are considered important to both have and to achieve (Study 1–3). If people approached their frozen goals as they do fantasies, there would be no need for achievement because a fantasy does not need to be achieved. By definition, fantasies are independent of the likelihood that they will actually occur (Oettingen et al., 2001). All present studies demonstrated that frozen goals are not limited to certain types of aspirational goals that are beyond the realm of achievement; the types of frozen goals people have (e.g., lose weight, buy a house) are indeed achievable goals. Not only are frozen goals attainable in principle, individuals also report believing they will attain the goal at some point in the future, thereby distinguishing them from fantasies or from irrevocable goals (Miceli, & Castelfranchi, 2017). Furthermore, we found no differences in positive or negative affect when individuals thought about the frozen goals they achieved, abandoned, or are currently maintaining, suggesting that, unlike irrevocable goals, frozen goals do not impact one’s emotional well-being.
State-owned enterprises concentration in a given sector has a statistically significant negative effect on private fixed capital formation; the impact is stronger in those industries in which SOEs have a more dominant presence
You Are Suffocating Me! Firm-Level Evidence on Crowding Out. Serhan Cevik. IBM Working Paper No. 19/80, April 24, 2019. https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/WP/Issues/2019/04/24/You-Are-Suffocating-Me-Firm-Level-Evidence-on-Crowding-Out-46720
Summary: Literature on whether government spending crowds out or crowds in the private sector is large, but still without an unambiguous conclusion. Using firm-level data from Ukraine, this paper provides a granular empirical investigation to disentangle the impact of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) on private firm investment in Ukraine—a large transition economy. Controlling for firm characteristics and systematic differences across sectors, the results indicate that the SOE concentration in a given sector has a statistically significant negative effect on private fixed capital formation, and that the impact of SOEs is stronger in those industries in which SOEs have a more dominant presence. These findings imply that private firms operating in sectors with a high level of SOE concentration invest systematically less than businesses that are not competing directly with SOEs.
Summary: Literature on whether government spending crowds out or crowds in the private sector is large, but still without an unambiguous conclusion. Using firm-level data from Ukraine, this paper provides a granular empirical investigation to disentangle the impact of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) on private firm investment in Ukraine—a large transition economy. Controlling for firm characteristics and systematic differences across sectors, the results indicate that the SOE concentration in a given sector has a statistically significant negative effect on private fixed capital formation, and that the impact of SOEs is stronger in those industries in which SOEs have a more dominant presence. These findings imply that private firms operating in sectors with a high level of SOE concentration invest systematically less than businesses that are not competing directly with SOEs.
Wednesday, April 24, 2019
The Two Cultures of Computational Psychiatry ( tools from cognitive science, computational neuroscience, and machine learning)
The Two Cultures of Computational Psychiatry. Daniel Bennett, Steven M. Silverstein, Yael Niv. JAMA Psychiatry. Published online April 24, 2019, doi:10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2019.0231
Computational psychiatry is a rapidly growing field that uses tools from cognitive science, computational neuroscience, and machine learning to address difficult psychiatric questions. Its great promise is that these tools will improve psychiatric diagnosis and treatment while also helping to explain the causes of psychiatric illness.1-3
Within computational psychiatry, there are distinct research cultures with distinct computational tools and research goals: machine learning and explanatory modeling.1 While each can potentially advance psychiatric research, important distinctions between the cultures sometimes go unappreciated in the broader psychiatric research community. We detail these distinctions, referring to Breiman’s influential dichotomy between these cultures of statistical modeling4 to identify limitations on the inferences that each culture can draw.
Breiman4 defined the 2 cultures of statistical modeling in terms of a data-generating process that generates output data from input variables. His dichotomy distinguished “algorithmic modeling,”4(p200) which aims to predict what outputs a data-generating process will produce from a given set of inputs while treating the process itself as a black box,2,3 from “data modeling,”4(p199) which uses the pattern of outputs and inputs to explain how the data-generating process works. In psychiatry, the data-generating processes are the psychological and neurobiological mechanisms that produce psychiatric illnesses. The output data produced by these processes are psychiatric outcomes (eg, symptoms, medication response) with input variables including family history, precipitating life events, and others. Breiman’s distinction between prediction and explanation is also what separates machine-learning approaches to computational psychiatry, which aim to predict psychiatric outcomes, from explanatory modeling, which aims to explain the computational-biological mechanisms of psychiatric illnesses. [...].
The culture of machine learning typically uses statistical techniques, such as support vector machines or deep neural networks, to predict psychiatric outcomes. These tools can be seen as lying on a continuum with classical statistics such as regression but with the addition of practices designed to reduce overfitting, such as parameter regularization and cross validation. For instance, a study by Webb et al5 has used such tools to predict antidepressant response from a combination of variables, including demographic factors, symptom severity, and cognitive task performance. Despite good predictive performance, the study drew no conclusions about the mechanisms by which these variables were linked to antidepressant response. This is because in machine learning, the parameters of the models that are used to predict psychiatric outcomes are not assumed to correspond to any underlying psychological or neural process; consequently, these parameters cannot be interpreted mechanistically. [...].
In comparison, the culture of explanatory modeling focuses on statistical models (expressed as equations) that define interacting processes with parameters that putatively correspond to neural computations. For instance, equations describing value updating in reinforcement-learning models are thought to correspond to corticostriatal synaptic modifications modulated by dopaminergic signaling of reward prediction errors. Consequently, explanatory model parameters fit to behavioral and/or neural data from patients with psychiatric diagnoses can directly inform inferences about dysfunctions in underlying neural computations, subject to several conditions being met. For instance, Huys et al6 have shown that anhedonia is correlated across diagnoses with a model parameter corresponding to the blunting of experienced reward value but not with a parameter controlling the rate of learning from this experienced value, providing evidence against one dopaminergic explanation of depression.
Importantly, there are several conditions that must be met before an explanatory model can be used in this way. First, to support the model’s correspondence to the true data-generating process and distinguish between different candidate models, the models must make sufficiently different predictions for the experimental data. Separately, to identify the model parameters accurately, the parameters’ effects on model predictions should be relatively independent, and there must be sufficient data. One approach to testing these conditions is to simulate data from each candidate model and test the ability of a model-fitting routine to recover the true cognitive model and its parameters from these data. Because empirical data will not correspond as perfectly to any of the candidate models, this test is a necessary but not sufficient condition for reliable explanatory modeling. Indeed, a common error is to overinterpret results [...].
A potential limitation of explanatory modeling in computational psychiatry is that theories (ie, models) may be ill-matched to available data, because data collected for other purposes may not distinguish between subtly (but importantly) different hypotheses regarding the mechanisms underlying psychiatric dysfunction. It is therefore crucial that explanatory modeling studies be carefully designed to ensure they provide data that can be used to accurately identify model parameters and discriminate between models. Another pitfall is the ubiquity of generalized performance deficits in individuals with mental illness, owing to factors such as low motivation, poor understanding of task instructions, and medication-induced sedation. [...].
Although these limitations mean that explanatory modeling can be a challenging enterprise, its potential benefits are also great. One exciting possibility is that parameters from explanatory models can be used as computational markers of psychiatric illness.1 Using such markers, it may be possible to (1) distinguish diagnoses that might initially have similar symptom profiles, such as major depression and bipolar disorder; (2) characterize within-diagnosis heterogeneity (and potentially generate new diagnostic categories) with reference to the disordered computational mechanism; or even (3) predict relapse and/or treatment responses based on shifts in computational markers. [...].
Conclusions
Applying Breiman’s dichotomy4 between the cultures of statistical modeling to computational psychiatry helps to parse the promises of this growing field. Crucially, it suggests that the 2 cultures of computational psychiatry are fundamentally suited for drawing different kinds of inferences from psychiatric data. This marks a point of difference between our dichotomy and Breiman’s dichotomy.4 Whereas Breiman espoused the virtues of prediction over explanation, we wish to emphasize the value of both cultures in asking distinct research questions and the importance of ongoing crosstalk between cultures. Although we have treated these cultures as separate, hybrid approaches1,2 have already proven powerful: generative embedding approaches incorporate parameter estimates from explanatory models as variables in machine-learning algorithms,7 and clusters of symptoms identified using machine-learning approaches can prompt explanatory modeling to determine the mechanisms underlying each specific cluster.2 Indeed, as long as we remain far from understanding the provenance of mental illness, it behooves us to use all appropriate methods to their full extent.
Full article and references at the link above
Computational psychiatry is a rapidly growing field that uses tools from cognitive science, computational neuroscience, and machine learning to address difficult psychiatric questions. Its great promise is that these tools will improve psychiatric diagnosis and treatment while also helping to explain the causes of psychiatric illness.1-3
Within computational psychiatry, there are distinct research cultures with distinct computational tools and research goals: machine learning and explanatory modeling.1 While each can potentially advance psychiatric research, important distinctions between the cultures sometimes go unappreciated in the broader psychiatric research community. We detail these distinctions, referring to Breiman’s influential dichotomy between these cultures of statistical modeling4 to identify limitations on the inferences that each culture can draw.
Breiman4 defined the 2 cultures of statistical modeling in terms of a data-generating process that generates output data from input variables. His dichotomy distinguished “algorithmic modeling,”4(p200) which aims to predict what outputs a data-generating process will produce from a given set of inputs while treating the process itself as a black box,2,3 from “data modeling,”4(p199) which uses the pattern of outputs and inputs to explain how the data-generating process works. In psychiatry, the data-generating processes are the psychological and neurobiological mechanisms that produce psychiatric illnesses. The output data produced by these processes are psychiatric outcomes (eg, symptoms, medication response) with input variables including family history, precipitating life events, and others. Breiman’s distinction between prediction and explanation is also what separates machine-learning approaches to computational psychiatry, which aim to predict psychiatric outcomes, from explanatory modeling, which aims to explain the computational-biological mechanisms of psychiatric illnesses. [...].
The culture of machine learning typically uses statistical techniques, such as support vector machines or deep neural networks, to predict psychiatric outcomes. These tools can be seen as lying on a continuum with classical statistics such as regression but with the addition of practices designed to reduce overfitting, such as parameter regularization and cross validation. For instance, a study by Webb et al5 has used such tools to predict antidepressant response from a combination of variables, including demographic factors, symptom severity, and cognitive task performance. Despite good predictive performance, the study drew no conclusions about the mechanisms by which these variables were linked to antidepressant response. This is because in machine learning, the parameters of the models that are used to predict psychiatric outcomes are not assumed to correspond to any underlying psychological or neural process; consequently, these parameters cannot be interpreted mechanistically. [...].
In comparison, the culture of explanatory modeling focuses on statistical models (expressed as equations) that define interacting processes with parameters that putatively correspond to neural computations. For instance, equations describing value updating in reinforcement-learning models are thought to correspond to corticostriatal synaptic modifications modulated by dopaminergic signaling of reward prediction errors. Consequently, explanatory model parameters fit to behavioral and/or neural data from patients with psychiatric diagnoses can directly inform inferences about dysfunctions in underlying neural computations, subject to several conditions being met. For instance, Huys et al6 have shown that anhedonia is correlated across diagnoses with a model parameter corresponding to the blunting of experienced reward value but not with a parameter controlling the rate of learning from this experienced value, providing evidence against one dopaminergic explanation of depression.
Importantly, there are several conditions that must be met before an explanatory model can be used in this way. First, to support the model’s correspondence to the true data-generating process and distinguish between different candidate models, the models must make sufficiently different predictions for the experimental data. Separately, to identify the model parameters accurately, the parameters’ effects on model predictions should be relatively independent, and there must be sufficient data. One approach to testing these conditions is to simulate data from each candidate model and test the ability of a model-fitting routine to recover the true cognitive model and its parameters from these data. Because empirical data will not correspond as perfectly to any of the candidate models, this test is a necessary but not sufficient condition for reliable explanatory modeling. Indeed, a common error is to overinterpret results [...].
A potential limitation of explanatory modeling in computational psychiatry is that theories (ie, models) may be ill-matched to available data, because data collected for other purposes may not distinguish between subtly (but importantly) different hypotheses regarding the mechanisms underlying psychiatric dysfunction. It is therefore crucial that explanatory modeling studies be carefully designed to ensure they provide data that can be used to accurately identify model parameters and discriminate between models. Another pitfall is the ubiquity of generalized performance deficits in individuals with mental illness, owing to factors such as low motivation, poor understanding of task instructions, and medication-induced sedation. [...].
Although these limitations mean that explanatory modeling can be a challenging enterprise, its potential benefits are also great. One exciting possibility is that parameters from explanatory models can be used as computational markers of psychiatric illness.1 Using such markers, it may be possible to (1) distinguish diagnoses that might initially have similar symptom profiles, such as major depression and bipolar disorder; (2) characterize within-diagnosis heterogeneity (and potentially generate new diagnostic categories) with reference to the disordered computational mechanism; or even (3) predict relapse and/or treatment responses based on shifts in computational markers. [...].
Conclusions
Applying Breiman’s dichotomy4 between the cultures of statistical modeling to computational psychiatry helps to parse the promises of this growing field. Crucially, it suggests that the 2 cultures of computational psychiatry are fundamentally suited for drawing different kinds of inferences from psychiatric data. This marks a point of difference between our dichotomy and Breiman’s dichotomy.4 Whereas Breiman espoused the virtues of prediction over explanation, we wish to emphasize the value of both cultures in asking distinct research questions and the importance of ongoing crosstalk between cultures. Although we have treated these cultures as separate, hybrid approaches1,2 have already proven powerful: generative embedding approaches incorporate parameter estimates from explanatory models as variables in machine-learning algorithms,7 and clusters of symptoms identified using machine-learning approaches can prompt explanatory modeling to determine the mechanisms underlying each specific cluster.2 Indeed, as long as we remain far from understanding the provenance of mental illness, it behooves us to use all appropriate methods to their full extent.
Full article and references at the link above
Why we devote ourselves to knowledge, the arts and the sciences
1 Caspar Heineman Tumblr blog, Nov 4 2012, https://angstravaganza.tumblr.com/post/34991232708/i-wasnt-always-smart-i-was-actually-very-stupid
“I wasn’t always smart, I was actually very stupid in school… [T]here was a boy who was very attractive who was even stupider than I was. And in order to ingratiate myself with this boy who was very beautiful, I began to do his homework for him – and that’s how I became smart, I had to do all this work to just keep ahead of him a little bit, in order to help him. In a sense, all the rest of my life I’ve been trying to do intellectual things that would attract beautiful boys.”
— Michel Foucault, 1983
2 https://quotefancy.com/quote/1492615/Leopold-von-Sacher-Masoch-Why-become-well-versed-in-science-and-the-arts-if-not-to
“Why become well-versed in science and the arts if not to impress a lovely little woman?”
— Leopold von Sacher-Masoch
“I wasn’t always smart, I was actually very stupid in school… [T]here was a boy who was very attractive who was even stupider than I was. And in order to ingratiate myself with this boy who was very beautiful, I began to do his homework for him – and that’s how I became smart, I had to do all this work to just keep ahead of him a little bit, in order to help him. In a sense, all the rest of my life I’ve been trying to do intellectual things that would attract beautiful boys.”
— Michel Foucault, 1983
2 https://quotefancy.com/quote/1492615/Leopold-von-Sacher-Masoch-Why-become-well-versed-in-science-and-the-arts-if-not-to
“Why become well-versed in science and the arts if not to impress a lovely little woman?”
— Leopold von Sacher-Masoch
Evolutionary Approaches to Complex, Asymmetrically Structured Societies; extending the gene/culture theory with a 3rd level, encompassing polities divided by class & ruled by elites
An evolutionary approach to complex hierarchical societies. Theodore Koditschek. Behavioural Processes, Volume 161, April 2019, Pages 117-128. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.beproc.2018.04.020
Highlights
• Proposes A New Framework for Framing Evolutionary Approaches to Complex, Asymmetrically Structured Societies.
• Draws on Gene/Culture ‘Dual Inheritance Co-evolutionary Theories from Evolutionary Anthropology.
• Extends This Bi-Level Theory to Incorporate a Third Level, Encompassing Polities Divided by Class and Ruled by Elites.
• Further Extends This Tri-Level Theory to Incorporate a Fourth Level Encompassing Modern, Economically Expansive Capitalist Societies.
Abstract: Evolutionary anthropologists have been remarkably successful in developing ‘dual inheritance’ theories of gene/culture coevolution that analyze the interaction of each of these factors without reducing either one to the other’s terms. However, efforts to extend this type of analysis to encompass complex, class-divided hierarchical societies, grounded in formal laws, political institutions, and trajectories of sustained economic development have scarcely begun. This article proposes a provisional framework for advancing such a multi-level co-evolutionary analysis that can encompass multiple forms of social organization from simple hunting/foraging groups to agrarian states and empires, up through the global capitalist system of our own day. The article formulates tools to conceptualize some of the ways in which ‘selection’ and ‘adaptation’ operate at every level to bring genes, cultures, states, and market exchange into provisional alignment with one another. It considers some of the ways in which modes of production’, ‘modes of coercion’ and ‘modes of persuasion’ interact complexly, at different societal levels.
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How far can human nature, history, and society be explained in evolutionary terms? The question has long been controversial and has generated some of the most heated debates in the history of the social sciences. During the nineteenth century, many grandiose, sweeping claims were made in the affirmative, only to see the influence of such views decline in subsequent decades. Criticized for the racist, sexist, and elitist assumptions in which they were grounded, such evolutionary theorizing was further undermined by the modern synthesis in twentieth century biology, which focused on the role of genetics in shaping physical characteristics, implicitly leaving the study of human social behavior, social development, and organization to the non-evolutionary social sciences. During the 1960s and 70s, the rise of sociobiology threatened to up-end this consensus by proposing genetic explanations for behavior, but the biological reductionism of its leading promoters was vigorously resisted, and the traditional division of labor between the sciences of nature and of nurture continued to prevail. In evolutionary psychology and in human behavioral ecology, Darwinian processes are widely invoked, but in the remainder of the social sciences little attention to them is paid (Kevles, 1985; Degler, 1991; Segerstråle, 2000).
A major exception to this generalization can be found among a group of self-styled evolutionary anthropologists, who have devised a hybrid paradigm for bio-social theory that promises a completely novel way of restoring the evolutionary approach to human affairs. Eschewing any unilateral recourse to biological determinism, these evolutionary anthropologists have focused on the ways in which culture and biology interact. While certainly recognizing that human behavior is rooted in our heredity, they are concerned to understand how culture has co-evolved with our innate psychology, and how the two have mutually constructed one another in a manner that is unique among life forms. As they have pioneered this new approach to the nature/nurture conundrum, the evolutionary anthropologists have givenus the opportunity to break through a major impasse that has habitually tripped social scientists up. When we begin to apply their methods to the study of complex, asymmetrically structured societies, however, (such as those in which most humans through recorded history have lived) certain key modifications will need to be made. In this paper, I briefly outline these modifications and explore some of the ways in which they may be able to fortify the foundations on which a comprehensive evolutionary social science could be built.
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Ugh:
Highlights
• Proposes A New Framework for Framing Evolutionary Approaches to Complex, Asymmetrically Structured Societies.
• Draws on Gene/Culture ‘Dual Inheritance Co-evolutionary Theories from Evolutionary Anthropology.
• Extends This Bi-Level Theory to Incorporate a Third Level, Encompassing Polities Divided by Class and Ruled by Elites.
• Further Extends This Tri-Level Theory to Incorporate a Fourth Level Encompassing Modern, Economically Expansive Capitalist Societies.
Abstract: Evolutionary anthropologists have been remarkably successful in developing ‘dual inheritance’ theories of gene/culture coevolution that analyze the interaction of each of these factors without reducing either one to the other’s terms. However, efforts to extend this type of analysis to encompass complex, class-divided hierarchical societies, grounded in formal laws, political institutions, and trajectories of sustained economic development have scarcely begun. This article proposes a provisional framework for advancing such a multi-level co-evolutionary analysis that can encompass multiple forms of social organization from simple hunting/foraging groups to agrarian states and empires, up through the global capitalist system of our own day. The article formulates tools to conceptualize some of the ways in which ‘selection’ and ‘adaptation’ operate at every level to bring genes, cultures, states, and market exchange into provisional alignment with one another. It considers some of the ways in which modes of production’, ‘modes of coercion’ and ‘modes of persuasion’ interact complexly, at different societal levels.
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How far can human nature, history, and society be explained in evolutionary terms? The question has long been controversial and has generated some of the most heated debates in the history of the social sciences. During the nineteenth century, many grandiose, sweeping claims were made in the affirmative, only to see the influence of such views decline in subsequent decades. Criticized for the racist, sexist, and elitist assumptions in which they were grounded, such evolutionary theorizing was further undermined by the modern synthesis in twentieth century biology, which focused on the role of genetics in shaping physical characteristics, implicitly leaving the study of human social behavior, social development, and organization to the non-evolutionary social sciences. During the 1960s and 70s, the rise of sociobiology threatened to up-end this consensus by proposing genetic explanations for behavior, but the biological reductionism of its leading promoters was vigorously resisted, and the traditional division of labor between the sciences of nature and of nurture continued to prevail. In evolutionary psychology and in human behavioral ecology, Darwinian processes are widely invoked, but in the remainder of the social sciences little attention to them is paid (Kevles, 1985; Degler, 1991; Segerstråle, 2000).
A major exception to this generalization can be found among a group of self-styled evolutionary anthropologists, who have devised a hybrid paradigm for bio-social theory that promises a completely novel way of restoring the evolutionary approach to human affairs. Eschewing any unilateral recourse to biological determinism, these evolutionary anthropologists have focused on the ways in which culture and biology interact. While certainly recognizing that human behavior is rooted in our heredity, they are concerned to understand how culture has co-evolved with our innate psychology, and how the two have mutually constructed one another in a manner that is unique among life forms. As they have pioneered this new approach to the nature/nurture conundrum, the evolutionary anthropologists have givenus the opportunity to break through a major impasse that has habitually tripped social scientists up. When we begin to apply their methods to the study of complex, asymmetrically structured societies, however, (such as those in which most humans through recorded history have lived) certain key modifications will need to be made. In this paper, I briefly outline these modifications and explore some of the ways in which they may be able to fortify the foundations on which a comprehensive evolutionary social science could be built.
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Ugh:
Yet, none of these solutions proved to be permanent, as the conditions of competition and wealth creation changed. In the post-1975 period, full-scale globalization has unleashed forces that are now generating both massive economic growth, and also new types of destabilizing crisis. World trade and real Gross World Product have tripled during this period, approximately doubling real global per capita incomes during a periodwhen the rate of population increase has been slowing down. At the same time, these gains have been distributed very unevenly, as wages of less skilled workers in the developed countries have stagnated, pools of deep poverty and underdevelopment continue to fester (especially below the equator), and even in the richest countries, some 20% of the national income, and 35% of the national wealth,is monopolized by the top one percent. On every continent, irresistible surges of de-regulation and regressive taxation have jeopardized the viability of the welfare state, even as vast waves of migration have roiled labor markets everywhere around the globe. The result has been to exacerbate previous inequalities, and to disempower organized labor, pitting workers against one another, and fuelling the cultural politics of conflicting religions, ethnicities, and identities. Both dramatic economic growth and spectacular social dislocation have, overthe past generation, become the orders of the day (Piketty, 2014; Stiglitz, 2017; Data from Wikipedia entries on ‘World Population’, ‘Gross World Product’, and ‘Wealth Inequality in the United States’).
Hypergamy (a husband's earning capacity systematically exceeds that of his wife) is an important feature of Norwegian mating patterns, being Norway one of the most equalized societies
Almås, Ingvild & Kotsadam, Andreas & Moen, Espen R & Røed, Knut, 2019. "The Economics of Hypergamy," CEPR Discussion Papers 13606, https://ideas.repec.org/p/cpr/ceprdp/13606.html
Abstract: Partner selection is a vital feature of human behavior with important consequences for individuals, families, and society. Hypergamy occurs when a husband's earning capacity systematically exceeds that of his wife. We provide a theoretical framework that rationalizes hypergamy even in the absence of gender differences in the distribution of earnings capacity. Using parental earnings rank, a predetermined measure of earnings capacity that solves the simultaneity problem of matching affecting earnings outcomes, we show that hypergamy is an important feature of Norwegian mating patterns. A vignette experiment identifies gender differences in preferences that can explain the observed patterns.
Keywords:marriage, gender identity, labor supply, household specialization
Abstract: Partner selection is a vital feature of human behavior with important consequences for individuals, families, and society. Hypergamy occurs when a husband's earning capacity systematically exceeds that of his wife. We provide a theoretical framework that rationalizes hypergamy even in the absence of gender differences in the distribution of earnings capacity. Using parental earnings rank, a predetermined measure of earnings capacity that solves the simultaneity problem of matching affecting earnings outcomes, we show that hypergamy is an important feature of Norwegian mating patterns. A vignette experiment identifies gender differences in preferences that can explain the observed patterns.
Keywords:marriage, gender identity, labor supply, household specialization
Most organic evolution involves non-Darwinian processes; much behavioral selection is non-teleonomic; non-Darwinian processes provide a better model for most cultural evolution than does selection by consequences
The non-Darwinian evolution of behavers and behaviors. Peter R. Killeen. Behavioural Processes, Volume 161, April 2019, Pages 45-53. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.beproc.2017.12.024
Highlights
• Most organic evolution involves non-Darwinian processes.
• Much behavioral selection is non-teleonomic.
• Non-Darwinian processes provide a better model for most cultural evolution than does selection by consequences.
Abstract: Many readers of this journal have been schooled in both Darwinian evolution and Skinnerian psychology, which have in common the vision of powerful control of their subjects by their sequalae. Individuals of species that generate more successful offspring come to dominate their habitat; responses of those individuals that generate more reinforcers come to dominate the repertoire of the individual in that context. This is unarguable. What is questionable is how large a role these forces of selection play in the larger landscape of existing organisms and the repertoires of their individuals. Here it is argued that non-Darwinian and non-Skinnerian selection play much larger roles in both than the reader may appreciate. The argument is based on the history of, and recent advances in, microbiology. Lessons from that history re-illuminate the three putative domains of selection by consequences: The evolution of species, response repertoires, and cultures. It is argued that before, beneath, and after the cosmically brief but crucial epoch of Darwinian evolution that shaped creatures such as ourselves, non-Darwinian forces pervade all three domains.
Keywords: Non-Darwinian evolution Selection by consequences Tree of life Lateral gene transfer Meme Microbes
Highlights
• Most organic evolution involves non-Darwinian processes.
• Much behavioral selection is non-teleonomic.
• Non-Darwinian processes provide a better model for most cultural evolution than does selection by consequences.
Abstract: Many readers of this journal have been schooled in both Darwinian evolution and Skinnerian psychology, which have in common the vision of powerful control of their subjects by their sequalae. Individuals of species that generate more successful offspring come to dominate their habitat; responses of those individuals that generate more reinforcers come to dominate the repertoire of the individual in that context. This is unarguable. What is questionable is how large a role these forces of selection play in the larger landscape of existing organisms and the repertoires of their individuals. Here it is argued that non-Darwinian and non-Skinnerian selection play much larger roles in both than the reader may appreciate. The argument is based on the history of, and recent advances in, microbiology. Lessons from that history re-illuminate the three putative domains of selection by consequences: The evolution of species, response repertoires, and cultures. It is argued that before, beneath, and after the cosmically brief but crucial epoch of Darwinian evolution that shaped creatures such as ourselves, non-Darwinian forces pervade all three domains.
Keywords: Non-Darwinian evolution Selection by consequences Tree of life Lateral gene transfer Meme Microbes
What Might Have Been: Near Miss Experiences and Adjustment to a Terrorist Attack—narrowly avoiding a traumatic event leads to “survivor guilt” or distress over one’s comparative good fortune
What Might Have Been: Near Miss Experiences and Adjustment to a Terrorist Attack. Michael J. Poulin, Roxane Cohen Silver. Social Psychological and Personality Science, April 24, 2019. https://doi.org/10.1177/1948550619829064
Abstract: Near miss experiences—narrowly avoiding a traumatic event—are associated with distress, despite signaling good fortune. For some, near miss experiences call to mind those who, unlike oneself, were directly affected by the event, leading to “survivor guilt” or distress over one’s comparative good fortune. Survivor guilt, in turn, may function as upward counterfactual thinking about others’ negative outcomes, leading to intrusive thoughts and post-traumatic stress. We compared individuals who did or did not report a near miss with respect to the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks—that is, almost being directly affected—in a national longitudinal study (N = 1,433). Near miss experiences predicted higher levels of reexperiencing symptoms and probable post-traumatic stress disorder, as well as maintenance of reexperiencing symptoms over the next 3 years. These associations were partially accounted for by survivor guilt. Near misses may be associated with distress in part because they entail reflection on negative outcomes for others.
Keywords: stress, trauma, meaning, terrorism
Abstract: Near miss experiences—narrowly avoiding a traumatic event—are associated with distress, despite signaling good fortune. For some, near miss experiences call to mind those who, unlike oneself, were directly affected by the event, leading to “survivor guilt” or distress over one’s comparative good fortune. Survivor guilt, in turn, may function as upward counterfactual thinking about others’ negative outcomes, leading to intrusive thoughts and post-traumatic stress. We compared individuals who did or did not report a near miss with respect to the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks—that is, almost being directly affected—in a national longitudinal study (N = 1,433). Near miss experiences predicted higher levels of reexperiencing symptoms and probable post-traumatic stress disorder, as well as maintenance of reexperiencing symptoms over the next 3 years. These associations were partially accounted for by survivor guilt. Near misses may be associated with distress in part because they entail reflection on negative outcomes for others.
Keywords: stress, trauma, meaning, terrorism
Humans and their working dogs: Comparing the human-dog socially distributed cognitive system with humans using non-biological tools and human interaction with draft animals
Distributed cognition criteria: Defined, operationalized, and applied to human-dog systems. Mary Jean Amon, Luis H. Favela. Behavioural Processes, Volume 162, May 2019, Pages 167-176. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.beproc.2019.03.001
Highlights
• Distributed cognitive systems exhibit three criteria: interaction-dominant dynamics, agency, and shared task-orientation.
• The three criteria allow for socially distributed cognitive systems to be distinguished from other group tasks.
• Some interactions between domesticated dogs and humans can be properly characterized as distributed cognition.
• Human-dog distributed cognitive systems are contrasted with extended cognitive systems (human-tool use) and obedience tasks.
• These criteria and examples demonstrate the expansive scope of distributed cognition theory beyond verbal interactions.
Abstract: Distributed cognition generally refers to situations in which task requirements are shared among multiple agents or, potentially, off-loaded onto the environment. With few exceptions, socially distributed cognition has largely been discussed in terms of intraspecific interactions. This conception fails to capture some forms of group-level cognition among human and non-human animals that are not readily measured or explained in mentalistic or verbal terms. In response to these limitations, we argue for a more stringent set of empirically-verifiable criteria for assessing whether a system is an instance of distributed cognition: interaction-dominant dynamics, agency, and shared task orientation. We apply this framework to humans and working dogs, and contrast the human-dog socially distributed cognitive system with humans using non-biological tools and human interaction with draft animals. The human-dog system illustrates three operationalizable factors for classifying phenomena as socially distributed cognition and extends the framework to interspecies distributed cognition.
Keywords: Agency Distributed cognition Dogs Extended cognition Interaction dominance Working animal
Highlights
• Distributed cognitive systems exhibit three criteria: interaction-dominant dynamics, agency, and shared task-orientation.
• The three criteria allow for socially distributed cognitive systems to be distinguished from other group tasks.
• Some interactions between domesticated dogs and humans can be properly characterized as distributed cognition.
• Human-dog distributed cognitive systems are contrasted with extended cognitive systems (human-tool use) and obedience tasks.
• These criteria and examples demonstrate the expansive scope of distributed cognition theory beyond verbal interactions.
Abstract: Distributed cognition generally refers to situations in which task requirements are shared among multiple agents or, potentially, off-loaded onto the environment. With few exceptions, socially distributed cognition has largely been discussed in terms of intraspecific interactions. This conception fails to capture some forms of group-level cognition among human and non-human animals that are not readily measured or explained in mentalistic or verbal terms. In response to these limitations, we argue for a more stringent set of empirically-verifiable criteria for assessing whether a system is an instance of distributed cognition: interaction-dominant dynamics, agency, and shared task orientation. We apply this framework to humans and working dogs, and contrast the human-dog socially distributed cognitive system with humans using non-biological tools and human interaction with draft animals. The human-dog system illustrates three operationalizable factors for classifying phenomena as socially distributed cognition and extends the framework to interspecies distributed cognition.
Keywords: Agency Distributed cognition Dogs Extended cognition Interaction dominance Working animal
Sculpting sex differences: Microglia are more phagocytic in the male amygdala during neonatal development; androgen-induced endocannabinoids increase phagocytosis in males, producing a sex difference in juvenile social play
Microglial Phagocytosis of Newborn Cells Is Induced by Endocannabinoids and Sculpts Sex Differences in Juvenile Rat Social Play. Jonathan W. VanRyzin et al. Neuron, Volume 102, Issue 2, 17 April 2019, Pages 435-449.e6. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2019.02.006
Highlights
• Microglia are more phagocytic in the male amygdala during neonatal development
• Androgen-induced endocannabinoids increase phagocytosis in males
• Microglia engulf viable newborn astrocytes in a complement-dependent manner
• Developmental phagocytosis produces a sex difference in juvenile social play
Summary: Brain sex differences are established developmentally and generate enduring changes in circuitry and behavior. Steroid-mediated masculinization of the rat amygdala during perinatal development produces higher levels of juvenile rough-and-tumble play by males. This sex difference in social play is highly conserved across mammals, yet the mechanisms by which it is established are unknown. Here, we report that androgen-induced increases in endocannabinoid tone promote microglia phagocytosis during a critical period of amygdala development. Phagocytic microglia engulf more viable newborn cells in males; in females, less phagocytosis allows more astrocytes to survive to the juvenile age. Blocking complement-dependent phagocytosis in males increases astrocyte survival and prevents masculinization of play. Moreover, increased astrocyte density in the juvenile amygdala reduces neuronal excitation during play. These findings highlight novel mechanisms of brain development whereby endocannabinoids induce microglia phagocytosis to regulate newborn astrocyte number and shape the sexual differentiation of social circuitry and behavior.
Highlights
• Microglia are more phagocytic in the male amygdala during neonatal development
• Androgen-induced endocannabinoids increase phagocytosis in males
• Microglia engulf viable newborn astrocytes in a complement-dependent manner
• Developmental phagocytosis produces a sex difference in juvenile social play
Summary: Brain sex differences are established developmentally and generate enduring changes in circuitry and behavior. Steroid-mediated masculinization of the rat amygdala during perinatal development produces higher levels of juvenile rough-and-tumble play by males. This sex difference in social play is highly conserved across mammals, yet the mechanisms by which it is established are unknown. Here, we report that androgen-induced increases in endocannabinoid tone promote microglia phagocytosis during a critical period of amygdala development. Phagocytic microglia engulf more viable newborn cells in males; in females, less phagocytosis allows more astrocytes to survive to the juvenile age. Blocking complement-dependent phagocytosis in males increases astrocyte survival and prevents masculinization of play. Moreover, increased astrocyte density in the juvenile amygdala reduces neuronal excitation during play. These findings highlight novel mechanisms of brain development whereby endocannabinoids induce microglia phagocytosis to regulate newborn astrocyte number and shape the sexual differentiation of social circuitry and behavior.
We can be very good sisters and brothers with unknown, not-related-to-us guys if our family co-members are away: Grooming behavior of female Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata yakui)
Behavioral responses to changes in group size and composition: a case study on grooming behavior of female Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata yakui). Yosuke Kurihara, Mari Nishikawa, Koji Mochida. Behavioural Processes, Volume 162, May 2019, Pages 142-146. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.beproc.2019.03.005
• Changes from multi-female to one-female groups were observed in Japanese macaques.
• Adult females increased their grooming efforts in one-female periods.
• They continued kin-biased grooming in one-female periods.
• Unrelated juveniles were alternative grooming partners for them in one-female periods.
• Rare observations of social changes are useful for understanding animal societies.
Abstract: Primates flexibly change their grooming behavior depending on group size and composition to maintain social relationships among group members. However, how drastic social changes influence their grooming behavior remains unclear. We observed the grooming behavior of adult female Japanese macaques in two groups temporarily formed as one-female groups from multi-female groups and compared their behaviors between the multi-female and one-female periods. Adult females more frequently performed grooming with both their relatives and unrelated juveniles during the one-female period when other adult females were unavailable as alternatives to their absent familiar partners. The increased grooming time and diversity of grooming partners might alleviate the short-term stress caused by the loss of grooming partners and reduce social instability or mitigate the long-term stress due to disadvantages in intergroup conflicts. Our study provides rare evidence on the flexibility in grooming behavior of primates and encourages accumulating case reports for understanding behavioral responses of primates to drastic social changes.
• Changes from multi-female to one-female groups were observed in Japanese macaques.
• Adult females increased their grooming efforts in one-female periods.
• They continued kin-biased grooming in one-female periods.
• Unrelated juveniles were alternative grooming partners for them in one-female periods.
• Rare observations of social changes are useful for understanding animal societies.
Abstract: Primates flexibly change their grooming behavior depending on group size and composition to maintain social relationships among group members. However, how drastic social changes influence their grooming behavior remains unclear. We observed the grooming behavior of adult female Japanese macaques in two groups temporarily formed as one-female groups from multi-female groups and compared their behaviors between the multi-female and one-female periods. Adult females more frequently performed grooming with both their relatives and unrelated juveniles during the one-female period when other adult females were unavailable as alternatives to their absent familiar partners. The increased grooming time and diversity of grooming partners might alleviate the short-term stress caused by the loss of grooming partners and reduce social instability or mitigate the long-term stress due to disadvantages in intergroup conflicts. Our study provides rare evidence on the flexibility in grooming behavior of primates and encourages accumulating case reports for understanding behavioral responses of primates to drastic social changes.
In rats: Resurgence of a target behavior suppressed by a combination of punishment and alternative reinforcement
Resurgence of a target behavior suppressed by a combination of punishment and alternative reinforcement. Rusty W. Nall, Jillian M. Rung, Timothy A. Shahan. Behavioural Processes, Volume 162, May 2019, Pages 177-183. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.beproc.2019.03.004
• Initially, rats performed a target behavior for access to food.
• Next, target behavior was punished and alternative behavior was reinforced.
• Finally, target and alternative behavior were extinguished and resurgence occurred.
• No resurgence occurred following punishment without alternative reinforcement.
• The present results suggest implications for theory and applied treatment.
Abstract: Differential-reinforcement-based treatments involving extinction of target problem behavior and reinforcement of an alternative behavior are highly effective. However, extinction of problem behavior is sometimes difficult or contraindicated in clinical settings. In such cases, punishment instead of extinction may be used in combination with alternative reinforcement. Although it is well documented that omitting alternative reinforcement can produce recurrence (i.e., resurgence) of behavior previously suppressed by extinction plus alternative reinforcement, it remains unclear if resurgence similarly occurs for behavior previously suppressed by punishment plus alternative reinforcement. The present experiment examined this question with rats. In Phase 1, a target behavior (lever pressing) was reinforced with food pellets. In Phase 2, the target behavior continued to be reinforced, but it also produced mild foot shock and an alternative behavior (nose poking) also produced food. Finally, all consequences were removed and resurgence of target behavior occurred. Resurgence did not occur for another group that similarly received punishment of target behavior in Phase 2 but not alternative reinforcement. These results indicate that resurgence was a product of the history of exposure to and then removal of alternative reinforcement and that the removal of punishment alone did not produce resurgence of target behavior.
Keywords: Punishment Rats Relapse Resurgence
• Initially, rats performed a target behavior for access to food.
• Next, target behavior was punished and alternative behavior was reinforced.
• Finally, target and alternative behavior were extinguished and resurgence occurred.
• No resurgence occurred following punishment without alternative reinforcement.
• The present results suggest implications for theory and applied treatment.
Abstract: Differential-reinforcement-based treatments involving extinction of target problem behavior and reinforcement of an alternative behavior are highly effective. However, extinction of problem behavior is sometimes difficult or contraindicated in clinical settings. In such cases, punishment instead of extinction may be used in combination with alternative reinforcement. Although it is well documented that omitting alternative reinforcement can produce recurrence (i.e., resurgence) of behavior previously suppressed by extinction plus alternative reinforcement, it remains unclear if resurgence similarly occurs for behavior previously suppressed by punishment plus alternative reinforcement. The present experiment examined this question with rats. In Phase 1, a target behavior (lever pressing) was reinforced with food pellets. In Phase 2, the target behavior continued to be reinforced, but it also produced mild foot shock and an alternative behavior (nose poking) also produced food. Finally, all consequences were removed and resurgence of target behavior occurred. Resurgence did not occur for another group that similarly received punishment of target behavior in Phase 2 but not alternative reinforcement. These results indicate that resurgence was a product of the history of exposure to and then removal of alternative reinforcement and that the removal of punishment alone did not produce resurgence of target behavior.
Keywords: Punishment Rats Relapse Resurgence
Tuesday, April 23, 2019
Extensive Pavlovian modifications of sexual behavior; learning experiences enhance how the species-typical cues of a sexual partner stimulate sexual behavior, increasing rates of fertilization of eggs & numbers of offspring produced
The behavior system for sexual learning. Michael Domjan, Germán Gutiérrez. Behavioural Processes, Volume 162, May 2019, Pages 184-196, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.beproc.2019.01.013
Highlights
• Reviews the current status of the behavior system for sexual learning.
• In addition to reviewing research with quail (which was the focus of prior paper), in this treatment research with rats is also incorporated into the characterization of the behavior system.
• Unlike prior papers which dealt primarily with sexual learning in males, in this review we also discuss in detail sexual learning in females.
• For the first time the characterization of the sexual learning system includes detailed information on how learning facilitates fertilization and reproductive success.
• Although much progress has been made in characterizing the sexual learning system, we include an extensive section discussing areas for future research.
• A new perspective on how sexual learning can contribute to evolutionary change is included.
Abstract: In this paper we review and update evidence relevant to formulating a behavior system for sexual learning. We emphasize behavioral rather than neurobiological evidence and mechanisms. Our analysis focuses on three types of responses or response modes: general search, focal search, and consummatory or copulatory behavior. We consider how these response modes are influenced by three categories of stimuli: spatially distributed contextual cues, arbitrary localized stimuli, and species-typical cues provided by the sexual partner. We characterize behavior control by these types of stimuli before and after various Pavlovian conditioning procedures in which the unconditioned stimulus is provided by copulation with a sexual partner. The results document extensive Pavlovian modifications of sexual behavior. These conditioning effects reflect new conditioned responses that come to be elicited by various categories of stimuli. In addition, the conditioning of contextual cues and localized stimuli facilitate sexual responding to species-typical cues. Thus, learning experiences enhance how the species-typical cues of a sexual partner stimulate sexual behavior. These modulatory conditioning effects not only produce significant behavioral changes but also increase rates of fertilization of eggs and numbers of offspring produced. These latter findings suggest that sexual learning can lead to differential reproductive success, which in turn can contribute to evolutionary change.
Keywords: Sexual conditioning Conditioned fertility Quail Behavior systems Sexual learning Constraints on learning Pavlovian conditioning Male sexual behavior Female sexual behavior Sperm competition Sperm allocation Conditioned copulation General search Focal search Sign tracking Place preference
Highlights
• Reviews the current status of the behavior system for sexual learning.
• In addition to reviewing research with quail (which was the focus of prior paper), in this treatment research with rats is also incorporated into the characterization of the behavior system.
• Unlike prior papers which dealt primarily with sexual learning in males, in this review we also discuss in detail sexual learning in females.
• For the first time the characterization of the sexual learning system includes detailed information on how learning facilitates fertilization and reproductive success.
• Although much progress has been made in characterizing the sexual learning system, we include an extensive section discussing areas for future research.
• A new perspective on how sexual learning can contribute to evolutionary change is included.
Abstract: In this paper we review and update evidence relevant to formulating a behavior system for sexual learning. We emphasize behavioral rather than neurobiological evidence and mechanisms. Our analysis focuses on three types of responses or response modes: general search, focal search, and consummatory or copulatory behavior. We consider how these response modes are influenced by three categories of stimuli: spatially distributed contextual cues, arbitrary localized stimuli, and species-typical cues provided by the sexual partner. We characterize behavior control by these types of stimuli before and after various Pavlovian conditioning procedures in which the unconditioned stimulus is provided by copulation with a sexual partner. The results document extensive Pavlovian modifications of sexual behavior. These conditioning effects reflect new conditioned responses that come to be elicited by various categories of stimuli. In addition, the conditioning of contextual cues and localized stimuli facilitate sexual responding to species-typical cues. Thus, learning experiences enhance how the species-typical cues of a sexual partner stimulate sexual behavior. These modulatory conditioning effects not only produce significant behavioral changes but also increase rates of fertilization of eggs and numbers of offspring produced. These latter findings suggest that sexual learning can lead to differential reproductive success, which in turn can contribute to evolutionary change.
Keywords: Sexual conditioning Conditioned fertility Quail Behavior systems Sexual learning Constraints on learning Pavlovian conditioning Male sexual behavior Female sexual behavior Sperm competition Sperm allocation Conditioned copulation General search Focal search Sign tracking Place preference
Bottlenose dolphins do not behave prosocially in an instrumental helping task: Ignore their partners and did not help them reach a preferred toy
Bottlenose dolphins do not behave prosocially in an instrumental helping task. Ana Pérez-Manrique, Antoni Gomila. Behavioural Processes, Apr 24 2019. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.beproc.2019.04.014
Highlights
• A group of captive bottlenose dolphins were tested in an instrumental helping task
• Bottlenose dolphins did not behave prosocially in this task
• Dolphins ignore their partners and did not help them reach a preferred toy
Abstract: Although bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) are known for being a highly social species that live in complex societies that rely on coalition formation and cooperative behaviours, experimental studies on prosocial behaviour in this species are scarce. Helping others reach their goals (instrumental helping) is considered as an example of prosocial behaviour. Thus, in this pilot study, we examined whether a group of five captive bottlenose dolphins would behave prosocially in an instrumental helping task. Dolphins were given the opportunity to share tokens that allow their partners to obtain a preferred toy. Dolphins were tested in their free time and they could choose to share the tokens or do nothing. None of the dolphins shared the tokens, instead, they preferred to play with them, ignoring their partners. They did transfer the tokens to other sides of the pool but out of the reach of their partners. Therefore, this group of dolphins did not spontaneously help their partners in this task, showing no preference for other-regarding behaviour in this context.
Highlights
• A group of captive bottlenose dolphins were tested in an instrumental helping task
• Bottlenose dolphins did not behave prosocially in this task
• Dolphins ignore their partners and did not help them reach a preferred toy
Abstract: Although bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) are known for being a highly social species that live in complex societies that rely on coalition formation and cooperative behaviours, experimental studies on prosocial behaviour in this species are scarce. Helping others reach their goals (instrumental helping) is considered as an example of prosocial behaviour. Thus, in this pilot study, we examined whether a group of five captive bottlenose dolphins would behave prosocially in an instrumental helping task. Dolphins were given the opportunity to share tokens that allow their partners to obtain a preferred toy. Dolphins were tested in their free time and they could choose to share the tokens or do nothing. None of the dolphins shared the tokens, instead, they preferred to play with them, ignoring their partners. They did transfer the tokens to other sides of the pool but out of the reach of their partners. Therefore, this group of dolphins did not spontaneously help their partners in this task, showing no preference for other-regarding behaviour in this context.
Individual outcomes of irrational thinking, including belief in the paranormal and non-scientific thinking: althought it diminishes financial profitability, the component of belief in the paranormal improves the psychological state
Is irrational thinking associated with lower earnings and happiness? Shoko Yamane, Hiroyasu Yoneda, Yoshiro Tsutsui. Mind & Society, Apr 23 2019. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11299-019-00213-4
Abstract: This study investigates the individual outcomes of irrational thinking, including belief in the paranormal and non-scientific thinking. These modes of thinking are identified through factor analysis of eleven questions asked in a large-scale survey conducted in Japan in 2008. Income and happiness are used as measures of individual performance. We propose two hypotheses. Previous studies in finance lead us to consider Hypothesis 1 that both higher belief in the paranormal and non-scientific thinking are associated with lower income. Literature on the association between religion, the paranormal, and happiness suggest Hypothesis 2 that higher belief in the paranormal is associated with greater happiness, while higher non-scientific thinking is associated with greater unhappiness. To examine these hypotheses, we regress income and happiness on belief in the paranormal and non-scientific thinking with appropriate control variables. We employ the Mincer-type wage function as the income equation. Income, sex, and age are controlled in the happiness equation. Analysis supports both hypotheses, which highlights the complex features of irrationality. Although irrationality results in diminishing financial profitability, the component of belief in the paranormal improves the psychological state.
Keywords: Irrational belief Happiness Paranormality Factor analysis Income
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1 Introduction
This study aims to discover whether rational thinking is necessary for better human performance (income and happiness), using Japanese data. Rationality is the essen-tial assumption of traditional economics, meaning that based on facts, agents think and act logically, in order to achieve their goals, given their constraints.1
The consequences of irrationality, i.e., violating requirements of logical rationality, have been studied in the field of behavioral finance. Shumway and Wu (2006) empirically analyzed the Shanghai stock exchange and found that traders who display the disposition effect, i.e., exhibit a greater propensity to realize gains compared to losses, earn less profits. Barber and Odean (2001) showed that men transact too often because of their overconfidence, leading to low profitability. These empirical results are consistent with the hypothesis that irrationality reduces profitability. However, there exists the possibility that irrationality works in an opposite direction. DeLong et al. (1990) theoretically analyzed the efficiency of a financial market that consists of a mix of rational and irrational agents and showed that this market can be inefficient if irrational agents comprise a substantial fraction of market participants.2 Thus, if irrational agents dominate, behaving irrationally in concordance with many other irrational agents can be profitable.
On the contrary, it is not known how irrationality is associated with happiness.3 In this study, we measure individuals’ degree of logical thinking by assessing the extent to which they believe in science and paranormal phenomena. Although these may seem to be two sides of the same coin, they essentially have different characteristics, as is demonstrated in Sect. 2.4 Many studies reported that those individuals who are deeply religious are happier (Koenig et al. 2001). Wills (2009) reported that higher satisfaction with spirituality and religiosity brings about significantly higher well-being (see also Cohen 2002), suggesting that those who believe in paranormal phenomena may be happier, since belief in religion overlaps, in part, belief in paranormal phenomena (see Sect. 2.2).
In order to address the question as to whether irrational thinking leads to lower profitability measured by income and happiness, we conducted an original survey in Japan. Of all the questions, 11 deal with paranormal phenomena and scientific facts. Using factor analysis, we extract two factors, namely, belief in paranormality and non-scientific thinking. We analyzed the association between these two factors and individual outcomes in terms of income and happiness.1 For more discussions on rationality, see Wilkinson (2008).2 The authors assume that rational agents are risk averse, which restricts them from carrying out unlimited arbitrage.3 Nevertheless, how happiness depends on various attributes and traits has been extensively investigated (see, e.g., Frey and Stutzer 2002). For example, based on a dictator game experiment, Konow and Earley (2008) found that more generous people report greater happiness.4 Lindeman and Aarnio (2007) offered some support for this; they reported that superstition is well predicted by ontological confusion, but not by analytical thinking.
Paranormality
1 Spirits and ghosts exist
2 Heaven exists
3 God or Gods exist
4 Life after death exists
5 God knows about all the wrong things we’ve done
6 It is possible to move an object by using psychokinesis
7 I believe in fortune telling
8 A person’s blood type indicates their character
Non-scientific thinking
1 Human beings evolved from other living things
2 You should place a greater value on thinking with your head than with your heart
3 What is written in science books is true
Abstract: This study investigates the individual outcomes of irrational thinking, including belief in the paranormal and non-scientific thinking. These modes of thinking are identified through factor analysis of eleven questions asked in a large-scale survey conducted in Japan in 2008. Income and happiness are used as measures of individual performance. We propose two hypotheses. Previous studies in finance lead us to consider Hypothesis 1 that both higher belief in the paranormal and non-scientific thinking are associated with lower income. Literature on the association between religion, the paranormal, and happiness suggest Hypothesis 2 that higher belief in the paranormal is associated with greater happiness, while higher non-scientific thinking is associated with greater unhappiness. To examine these hypotheses, we regress income and happiness on belief in the paranormal and non-scientific thinking with appropriate control variables. We employ the Mincer-type wage function as the income equation. Income, sex, and age are controlled in the happiness equation. Analysis supports both hypotheses, which highlights the complex features of irrationality. Although irrationality results in diminishing financial profitability, the component of belief in the paranormal improves the psychological state.
Keywords: Irrational belief Happiness Paranormality Factor analysis Income
---
1 Introduction
This study aims to discover whether rational thinking is necessary for better human performance (income and happiness), using Japanese data. Rationality is the essen-tial assumption of traditional economics, meaning that based on facts, agents think and act logically, in order to achieve their goals, given their constraints.1
The consequences of irrationality, i.e., violating requirements of logical rationality, have been studied in the field of behavioral finance. Shumway and Wu (2006) empirically analyzed the Shanghai stock exchange and found that traders who display the disposition effect, i.e., exhibit a greater propensity to realize gains compared to losses, earn less profits. Barber and Odean (2001) showed that men transact too often because of their overconfidence, leading to low profitability. These empirical results are consistent with the hypothesis that irrationality reduces profitability. However, there exists the possibility that irrationality works in an opposite direction. DeLong et al. (1990) theoretically analyzed the efficiency of a financial market that consists of a mix of rational and irrational agents and showed that this market can be inefficient if irrational agents comprise a substantial fraction of market participants.2 Thus, if irrational agents dominate, behaving irrationally in concordance with many other irrational agents can be profitable.
On the contrary, it is not known how irrationality is associated with happiness.3 In this study, we measure individuals’ degree of logical thinking by assessing the extent to which they believe in science and paranormal phenomena. Although these may seem to be two sides of the same coin, they essentially have different characteristics, as is demonstrated in Sect. 2.4 Many studies reported that those individuals who are deeply religious are happier (Koenig et al. 2001). Wills (2009) reported that higher satisfaction with spirituality and religiosity brings about significantly higher well-being (see also Cohen 2002), suggesting that those who believe in paranormal phenomena may be happier, since belief in religion overlaps, in part, belief in paranormal phenomena (see Sect. 2.2).
In order to address the question as to whether irrational thinking leads to lower profitability measured by income and happiness, we conducted an original survey in Japan. Of all the questions, 11 deal with paranormal phenomena and scientific facts. Using factor analysis, we extract two factors, namely, belief in paranormality and non-scientific thinking. We analyzed the association between these two factors and individual outcomes in terms of income and happiness.1 For more discussions on rationality, see Wilkinson (2008).2 The authors assume that rational agents are risk averse, which restricts them from carrying out unlimited arbitrage.3 Nevertheless, how happiness depends on various attributes and traits has been extensively investigated (see, e.g., Frey and Stutzer 2002). For example, based on a dictator game experiment, Konow and Earley (2008) found that more generous people report greater happiness.4 Lindeman and Aarnio (2007) offered some support for this; they reported that superstition is well predicted by ontological confusion, but not by analytical thinking.
Paranormality
1 Spirits and ghosts exist
2 Heaven exists
3 God or Gods exist
4 Life after death exists
5 God knows about all the wrong things we’ve done
6 It is possible to move an object by using psychokinesis
7 I believe in fortune telling
8 A person’s blood type indicates their character
Non-scientific thinking
1 Human beings evolved from other living things
2 You should place a greater value on thinking with your head than with your heart
3 What is written in science books is true
When individuals feel similar to their future self, they are more likely to delay present gratification & make plans for the long run; greater perceived similarity to the future self is linearly associated with greater life satisfaction 10 y later
Identity Over Time: Perceived Similarity Between Selves Predicts Well-Being 10 Years Later. Joseph S. Reiff, Hal E. Hershfield, Jordi Quoidbach. Social Psychological and Personality Science, April 23, 2019. https://doi.org/10.1177/1948550619843931
Abstract: When individuals feel similar to their future self, they are more likely to delay present gratification and make plans for the long run. But do these feelings of similarity actually correspond with heightened well-being for the future self? Theoretically, making patient decisions in the present could lead to a future self who is better off and thus more satisfied. Alternatively, perceived overlap with the future self could cause people to continually deny themselves pleasures in the present, diminishing satisfaction over time. To adjudicate between these possibilities, we use a 10-year longitudinal data set (N = 4,963) to estimate how thoughts about one’s future self in an initial survey predict life satisfaction 10 years later. Controlling for initial life satisfaction, greater perceived similarity to the future self is linearly associated with greater life satisfaction 10 years after the original prediction, a finding that is robust to a number of alternative analyses.
Keywords: identity over time, future self, well-being, life span development
Abstract: When individuals feel similar to their future self, they are more likely to delay present gratification and make plans for the long run. But do these feelings of similarity actually correspond with heightened well-being for the future self? Theoretically, making patient decisions in the present could lead to a future self who is better off and thus more satisfied. Alternatively, perceived overlap with the future self could cause people to continually deny themselves pleasures in the present, diminishing satisfaction over time. To adjudicate between these possibilities, we use a 10-year longitudinal data set (N = 4,963) to estimate how thoughts about one’s future self in an initial survey predict life satisfaction 10 years later. Controlling for initial life satisfaction, greater perceived similarity to the future self is linearly associated with greater life satisfaction 10 years after the original prediction, a finding that is robust to a number of alternative analyses.
Keywords: identity over time, future self, well-being, life span development
7 years after passage of a Renewable Portfolio program, the required renewable share of generation is 1.8 pct higher & average retail electricity prices are 1.3 cent/kWh, 11% higher (12 years after, 4.2 pct higher, & costs are 17% higher)
Do Renewable Portfolio Standards Deliver? Michael Greenstone, Richard McDowell, Ishan Nath. University of Chicago, Becker Friedman Institute for Economics Working Paper No. 2019-62. Apr 19 2019. https://ssrn.com/abstract=3374942
Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS) are the largest and perhaps most popular climate policy in the US, having been enacted by 29 states and the District of Columbia. Using the most comprehensive panel data set ever compiled on program characteristics and key outcomes, we compare states that did and did not adopt RPS policies, exploiting the substantial differences in timing of adoption. The estimates indicate that 7 years after passage of an RPS program, the required renewable share of generation is 1.8 percentage points higher and average retail electricity prices are 1.3 cents per kWh, or 11% higher; the comparable figures for 12 years after adoption are a 4.2 percentage point increase in renewables’ share and a price increase of 2.0 cents per kWh or 17%. These cost estimates significantly exceed the marginal operational costs of renewables and likely reflect costs that renewables impose on the generation system, including those associated with their intermittency, higher transmission costs, and any stranded asset costs assigned to ratepayers. The estimated reduction in carbon emissions is imprecise, but, together with the price results, indicates that the cost per metric ton of CO2 abated exceeds $130 in all specifications and ranges up to $460, making it least several times larger than conventional estimates of the social cost of carbon. These results do not rule out the possibility that RPS policies could dynamically reduce the cost of abatement in the future by causing improvements in renewable technology.
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* Renewable energy mandates reduce CO2 emissions at the astounding price of between $130 to $460 per ton. This is like adding between $54.60 to $193.20 to the price of a barrel of oil.
* The cost of reducing CO2 emissions via renewable mandates is much more expensive than the so-called “social cost of carbon.” Enviro groups claim that social cost of carbon is about $40 per ton.
* Renewable energy mandates in the 29 states have reduced CO2 emissions by a mere 95 – 175 MILLION metric tons of CO2 after seven years. Annual manmade emissions of CO2 are about 53.5 billion tons per year.
Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS) are the largest and perhaps most popular climate policy in the US, having been enacted by 29 states and the District of Columbia. Using the most comprehensive panel data set ever compiled on program characteristics and key outcomes, we compare states that did and did not adopt RPS policies, exploiting the substantial differences in timing of adoption. The estimates indicate that 7 years after passage of an RPS program, the required renewable share of generation is 1.8 percentage points higher and average retail electricity prices are 1.3 cents per kWh, or 11% higher; the comparable figures for 12 years after adoption are a 4.2 percentage point increase in renewables’ share and a price increase of 2.0 cents per kWh or 17%. These cost estimates significantly exceed the marginal operational costs of renewables and likely reflect costs that renewables impose on the generation system, including those associated with their intermittency, higher transmission costs, and any stranded asset costs assigned to ratepayers. The estimated reduction in carbon emissions is imprecise, but, together with the price results, indicates that the cost per metric ton of CO2 abated exceeds $130 in all specifications and ranges up to $460, making it least several times larger than conventional estimates of the social cost of carbon. These results do not rule out the possibility that RPS policies could dynamically reduce the cost of abatement in the future by causing improvements in renewable technology.
---
* Renewable energy mandates reduce CO2 emissions at the astounding price of between $130 to $460 per ton. This is like adding between $54.60 to $193.20 to the price of a barrel of oil.
* The cost of reducing CO2 emissions via renewable mandates is much more expensive than the so-called “social cost of carbon.” Enviro groups claim that social cost of carbon is about $40 per ton.
* Renewable energy mandates in the 29 states have reduced CO2 emissions by a mere 95 – 175 MILLION metric tons of CO2 after seven years. Annual manmade emissions of CO2 are about 53.5 billion tons per year.
The relations between social network site use and Big Five traits were weak or nil; the moderator effects of study country and participant gender were mixed
Social network site use and Big Five personality traits: A meta-analysis. Chiungjung Huang. Computers in Human Behavior, Volume 97, August 2019, Pages 280-290. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2019.03.009
Highlights
• The relations between social network site use and Big Five traits were weak or nil.
• The moderator effects of study country and participant gender were mixed.
• Effects of the rest of moderators were not supported.
Abstract: This meta-analysis summarized the relations between social network site use and neuroticism, extraversion, openness, agreeableness and conscientiousness. Sixty-one articles comprising 67 independent samples (N = 22,899 participants) were identified. The overall correlations of social network site use with neuroticism (avg-r= 0.08) and extraversion (avg-r= 0.09) were about positively small, while conscientiousness had a negative and quite small correlation with social network site use with avg-r = −0.04. Openness and agreeableness were not significantly correlated with social network site use with avg-r = −0.01. The effects of most moderators, including publication outlet, site participants spent time, scale of time spent, indicator of social network site use, Big Five measure, and participant age were not significant. In contrast, the effects of country where the study was conducted and participant gender were mixed.
Highlights
• The relations between social network site use and Big Five traits were weak or nil.
• The moderator effects of study country and participant gender were mixed.
• Effects of the rest of moderators were not supported.
Abstract: This meta-analysis summarized the relations between social network site use and neuroticism, extraversion, openness, agreeableness and conscientiousness. Sixty-one articles comprising 67 independent samples (N = 22,899 participants) were identified. The overall correlations of social network site use with neuroticism (avg-r= 0.08) and extraversion (avg-r= 0.09) were about positively small, while conscientiousness had a negative and quite small correlation with social network site use with avg-r = −0.04. Openness and agreeableness were not significantly correlated with social network site use with avg-r = −0.01. The effects of most moderators, including publication outlet, site participants spent time, scale of time spent, indicator of social network site use, Big Five measure, and participant age were not significant. In contrast, the effects of country where the study was conducted and participant gender were mixed.
Monday, April 22, 2019
A War Is Ending: Chinese energy industry asks to build 300–500 new coal power plants by 2030
China’s power industry calls for hundreds of new coal power plants by 2030. Lauri Myllyvirta. Greenpeace Unearthed, March 28 2019. https://unearthed.greenpeace.org/2019/03/28/china-new-coal-plants-2030-climate/
Under the proposal, the country could add a large coal power plant every 2 weeks for the next 12 years
The largest power producers in China have asked the government to allow for the development of between 300 and 500 new coal power plants by 2030 [...].
[...]
In its review of the government’s five-year-plan, China Electricity Council (CEC) – the influential industry body representing China’s power industry – recommended adopting a ‘cap’ for coal power capacity by 2030 — but the 1300GW limit proposed is 290GW higher than current capacity. The target is for the country’s coal-fired capacity to continue to grow until peaking in 2030.
The cap would enable China to build 2 large coal power stations a month for the next 12 years, and grow the country’s capacity by an amount nearly twice the size of Europe’s total coal capacity.
[...]
The Chinese government has not adopted the industry proposal, but it is under consideration.
[...] Both the China National Renewable Energy Center 2C scenario and the IEA Sustainable Development Scenario, a fairly unambitious emission reduction scenario that would be likely to lead to more than 2 degrees warming, have China’s thermal power capacity falling around 900GW by 2030 — a 200GW reduction from 2020 to 2030, as opposed to a 200GW increase proposed by the industry.
[I]n a scenario consistent with the reductions in coal use needed to meet the 1.5C target, China’s coal-fired capacity must fall by around 350GW from 2020 to 2030 to reach 680GW, taking the rapid development of renewable energy into consideration.
The capacity proposed by the CEC plan is therefore almost twice as high as the level consistent with 1.5C.
Analysis also suggests that at least 50GW of coal capacity will retire by 2030 – probably more like 200GW – which means that the gross addition of capacity under the CEC plan would be around 330GW to 470GW.
130GW is currently under construction in China (WHAT!!!! ***), with an additional 30-40GW of projects that already started construction but were suspended or delayed due to Beijing’s various overcapacity policies.
[...]
For context, the total German coal/lignite plant capacity is less than 50GW, while in Poland it is below 30 GW.
Full text, charts and links at https://unearthed.greenpeace.org/2019/03/28/china-new-coal-plants-2030-climate/
*** The Greenpeace writer pretends not to know about this: China is building coal power again. Feng Hao. China Dialogue, Sep 28 2018. https://www.chinadialogue.net/blog/10761-China-is-building-coal-power-again/en
Check also how a forensic examination of china’s national accounts 2008-2016 establish that growth was overstated by more than 13pct:
If that is true, there is no incentive to close the door to coal.
And finally check how Pakistan's pivot to coal goes running with Chinese help: Plan to spend $35bn loan from China on new power stations looks set to continue under Khan
Under the proposal, the country could add a large coal power plant every 2 weeks for the next 12 years
The largest power producers in China have asked the government to allow for the development of between 300 and 500 new coal power plants by 2030 [...].
[...]
In its review of the government’s five-year-plan, China Electricity Council (CEC) – the influential industry body representing China’s power industry – recommended adopting a ‘cap’ for coal power capacity by 2030 — but the 1300GW limit proposed is 290GW higher than current capacity. The target is for the country’s coal-fired capacity to continue to grow until peaking in 2030.
The cap would enable China to build 2 large coal power stations a month for the next 12 years, and grow the country’s capacity by an amount nearly twice the size of Europe’s total coal capacity.
[...]
The Chinese government has not adopted the industry proposal, but it is under consideration.
[...] Both the China National Renewable Energy Center 2C scenario and the IEA Sustainable Development Scenario, a fairly unambitious emission reduction scenario that would be likely to lead to more than 2 degrees warming, have China’s thermal power capacity falling around 900GW by 2030 — a 200GW reduction from 2020 to 2030, as opposed to a 200GW increase proposed by the industry.
[I]n a scenario consistent with the reductions in coal use needed to meet the 1.5C target, China’s coal-fired capacity must fall by around 350GW from 2020 to 2030 to reach 680GW, taking the rapid development of renewable energy into consideration.
The capacity proposed by the CEC plan is therefore almost twice as high as the level consistent with 1.5C.
Analysis also suggests that at least 50GW of coal capacity will retire by 2030 – probably more like 200GW – which means that the gross addition of capacity under the CEC plan would be around 330GW to 470GW.
130GW is currently under construction in China (WHAT!!!! ***), with an additional 30-40GW of projects that already started construction but were suspended or delayed due to Beijing’s various overcapacity policies.
[...]
For context, the total German coal/lignite plant capacity is less than 50GW, while in Poland it is below 30 GW.
Full text, charts and links at https://unearthed.greenpeace.org/2019/03/28/china-new-coal-plants-2030-climate/
*** The Greenpeace writer pretends not to know about this: China is building coal power again. Feng Hao. China Dialogue, Sep 28 2018. https://www.chinadialogue.net/blog/10761-China-is-building-coal-power-again/en
CoalSwarm published a report on September 26 warning that 259 gigawatts of coal power capacity – equivalent to the entire coal power fleet of the United States – is being built in China despite government policies restricting new builds.
Check also how a forensic examination of china’s national accounts 2008-2016 establish that growth was overstated by more than 13pct:
Chen, Wei, Xilu Chen, Chang-Tai Hseih and Zheng (Michael) Song. 2019. “A Forensic Examination of China’s National Accounts” BPEA Conference Draft, Spring. https://www.bipartisanalliance.com/2019/03/a-forensic-examination-of-chinas.html
If that is true, there is no incentive to close the door to coal.
And finally check how Pakistan's pivot to coal goes running with Chinese help: Plan to spend $35bn loan from China on new power stations looks set to continue under Khan
Pakistan’s pivot to coal to boost energy gets critics fired up. Kiran Stacey in Lahore July 31, 2018. Financial Times. https://www.bipartisanalliance.com/2018/08/pakistans-pivot-to-coal-plan-to-spend.html
Evaluating the Impact of Ethnic Television on Political Participation: Access to Spanish‐language television is associated with decreases in turnout, ethnic civic participation, and political knowledge
Tuning In, Not Turning Out: Evaluating the Impact of Ethnic Television on Political Participation. Yamil Ricardo Velez, Benjamin J. Newman. American Journal of Political Science, April 15 2019. https://doi.org/10.1111/ajps.12427
Abstract: Despite the importance of ethnic television within immigrant communities, its effects on political participation are unclear. On the one hand, ethnic media can mobilize and inform voters. On the other hand, it can serve as a source of diversion and reduce the desire to participate. To evaluate these competing possibilities, we implement a geographic regression discontinuity (GRD) approach involving Federal Communication Commission reception boundaries for Spanish‐language television stations in two states. Additionally, we replicate and unpack our GRD analyses using three nationally representative samples of Latinos. Across multiple studies, we find that access to Spanish‐language television is associated with decreases in turnout, ethnic civic participation, and political knowledge. We conclude by discussing the implications of these findings on the ethnic politics, political communication, and social capital literatures.
Abstract: Despite the importance of ethnic television within immigrant communities, its effects on political participation are unclear. On the one hand, ethnic media can mobilize and inform voters. On the other hand, it can serve as a source of diversion and reduce the desire to participate. To evaluate these competing possibilities, we implement a geographic regression discontinuity (GRD) approach involving Federal Communication Commission reception boundaries for Spanish‐language television stations in two states. Additionally, we replicate and unpack our GRD analyses using three nationally representative samples of Latinos. Across multiple studies, we find that access to Spanish‐language television is associated with decreases in turnout, ethnic civic participation, and political knowledge. We conclude by discussing the implications of these findings on the ethnic politics, political communication, and social capital literatures.
Does state capacity lowers violence? The find that post office density is a strong, consistent, & negative predictor of dueling behavior
Jensen, Jeffrey and Ramey, Adam, Going Postal: State Capacity and Violent Dispute Resolution (March 13, 2019). SSRN, http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3344347
Abstract: Scholars have long tried to understand the conditions under which actors choose to use violent versus non-violent means to settle disputes, and many argue that violence is more likely in weakly-institutionalized settings. Yet, there is little evidence showing that increases in state capacity lowers the use of violent informal institutions to resolve disputes. Utilizing a novel dataset of violence --- specifically, duels --- across American states in the 19th Century, we use the spread of federal post offices as an identification strategy to investigate the importance of state capacity for the incidence of violent dispute resolution. We find that post office density is a strong, consistent, and negative predictor of dueling behavior. Our evidence contributes to a burgeoning literature on the importance of state capacity for development outcomes.
Keywords: Violence, Dueling, Political Economy, American Political Development
JEL Classification: K42, N31, O17
Abstract: Scholars have long tried to understand the conditions under which actors choose to use violent versus non-violent means to settle disputes, and many argue that violence is more likely in weakly-institutionalized settings. Yet, there is little evidence showing that increases in state capacity lowers the use of violent informal institutions to resolve disputes. Utilizing a novel dataset of violence --- specifically, duels --- across American states in the 19th Century, we use the spread of federal post offices as an identification strategy to investigate the importance of state capacity for the incidence of violent dispute resolution. We find that post office density is a strong, consistent, and negative predictor of dueling behavior. Our evidence contributes to a burgeoning literature on the importance of state capacity for development outcomes.
Keywords: Violence, Dueling, Political Economy, American Political Development
JEL Classification: K42, N31, O17
Trait grandiose narcissism positively predicted helping but narcissistic rivalry predicted it negatively; participants reported more helping on days they felt more narcissistic, but only if mood was low
State and trait narcissism predict everyday helping. Siyin Chen, Rebecca Friesdorf & Christian H. Jordan. Self and Identity, Apr 22 2019. https://doi.org/10.1080/15298868.2019.1598892
ABSTRACT: Though grandiose narcissism may seem incompatible with prosocial behavior, evidence of how they relate is mixed. We extend research on this relation by (1) assessing everyday helping, (2) distinguishing narcissistic admiration and rivalry, and (3) assessing state narcissism. Using daily diary methodology and multilevel modeling (N = 380; total observations = 4292), we assess trait narcissism (grandiose, admiration and rivalry), state narcissism, and daily helping over 14 days. Trait grandiose narcissism positively predicted helping but narcissistic rivalry predicted it negatively. State narcissism also positively predicted helping: Participants reported more helping on days they felt more narcissistic. Mood, however, interacted with state narcissism: state narcissism predicted greater helping when daily mood was low but not high.
KEYWORDS: Grandiose narcissism, state narcissism, prosocial behavior
Check also how they found a positive relationship between the endorsement of good citizenship (voting, paying taxes, staying informed, etc.) and narcissism: Who makes a good citizen? The role of personality. Scott Pruysers, Julie Blais, Phillip G.Chen. Personality and Individual Differences. Volume 146, 1 August 2019, Pages 99-104. https://www.bipartisanalliance.com/2019/04/we-document-positive-relationship.html
ABSTRACT: Though grandiose narcissism may seem incompatible with prosocial behavior, evidence of how they relate is mixed. We extend research on this relation by (1) assessing everyday helping, (2) distinguishing narcissistic admiration and rivalry, and (3) assessing state narcissism. Using daily diary methodology and multilevel modeling (N = 380; total observations = 4292), we assess trait narcissism (grandiose, admiration and rivalry), state narcissism, and daily helping over 14 days. Trait grandiose narcissism positively predicted helping but narcissistic rivalry predicted it negatively. State narcissism also positively predicted helping: Participants reported more helping on days they felt more narcissistic. Mood, however, interacted with state narcissism: state narcissism predicted greater helping when daily mood was low but not high.
KEYWORDS: Grandiose narcissism, state narcissism, prosocial behavior
Check also how they found a positive relationship between the endorsement of good citizenship (voting, paying taxes, staying informed, etc.) and narcissism: Who makes a good citizen? The role of personality. Scott Pruysers, Julie Blais, Phillip G.Chen. Personality and Individual Differences. Volume 146, 1 August 2019, Pages 99-104. https://www.bipartisanalliance.com/2019/04/we-document-positive-relationship.html
The Emergence of Modern Languages: Has Human Self-Domestication Optimized Language Transmission?
The Emergence of Modern Languages: Has Human Self-Domestication Optimized Language Transmission? Antonio Benítez-Burraco and Vera Kempe. Front. Psychol., April 17 2018. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00551
Introduction
Our uniquely human ability to learn and use languages (aka language-readiness) has been hypothesized to result from species-specific changes in brain development and wiring that habilitated a new neural workspace supporting cross-modular thinking, among other abilities (Boeckx and Benítez-Burraco, 2014; see Arbib, 2012, 2017 for a similar view). Strikingly, behavioral modernity did not emerge on a par with cognitive modernity. On the contrary, it is only well after our split from Neanderthals and Denisovans that modern behavior becomes evident around the world (see Mellars et al., 2007; but also Hoffmann et al., 2018; for tentative evidence of behavioral modernity in Neanderthals). This emergence of modern behavior has been linked to the rise of modern languages, i.e., exhibiting features such as elaborate syntax including extensive use of recursion. The potential of these languages to convey sophisticated meanings and know-how in ways that allows sharing of knowledge with others is assumed to have arisen in a reciprocal relationship with complex cultural practices (Sinha, 2015a,b; Tattersall, 2017). Thus, even if not its main trigger, complex language is at the very least a by-product and facilitator of modern behavior.
Because the human brain and human cognition have remained substantially unmodified since our origins, behavioral modernity and modern languages are assumed to be the product of cultural evolution via niche construction (Sinha, 2009, 2015b; Fogarty and Creanza, 2017). This may include feedback effects of culture on our cognitive architecture in the form of the creation of “cognitive gadgets” (Clarke and Heyes, 2017) through small modifications in learning and data-acquisition mechanisms like attentional focus or memory resources (Lotem et al., 2017), but without involving significant neuro-anatomical changes (Figure 1). However, this explanation may be insufficient: Recent research suggests that aspects of the human distinctive globular skull and brain might have evolved gradually within our species in response to accompanying genetic changes, reaching present-day human variation between about 100 and 35 thousand years ago (kya), in parallel with the emergence of behavioral modernity (Neubauer et al., 2018). Thus, it may not be entirely appropriate to equate neuro-anatomical modernity with cognitive modernity; instead, the language-ready brain can be conceived of as a brain with the potential for cognitive modernity. Here we argue that these neuro-anatomical and concomitant behavioral changes are largely manifestations of human self-domestication, which constitutes a possible pathway toward cognitive modernity and sophisticated linguistic abilities. We focus specifically on parenting and teaching behaviors as foundations of cultural transmission processes that may have facilitated the exploitation of our cognitive potential and, ultimately, the emergence of modern languages.
Introduction
Our uniquely human ability to learn and use languages (aka language-readiness) has been hypothesized to result from species-specific changes in brain development and wiring that habilitated a new neural workspace supporting cross-modular thinking, among other abilities (Boeckx and Benítez-Burraco, 2014; see Arbib, 2012, 2017 for a similar view). Strikingly, behavioral modernity did not emerge on a par with cognitive modernity. On the contrary, it is only well after our split from Neanderthals and Denisovans that modern behavior becomes evident around the world (see Mellars et al., 2007; but also Hoffmann et al., 2018; for tentative evidence of behavioral modernity in Neanderthals). This emergence of modern behavior has been linked to the rise of modern languages, i.e., exhibiting features such as elaborate syntax including extensive use of recursion. The potential of these languages to convey sophisticated meanings and know-how in ways that allows sharing of knowledge with others is assumed to have arisen in a reciprocal relationship with complex cultural practices (Sinha, 2015a,b; Tattersall, 2017). Thus, even if not its main trigger, complex language is at the very least a by-product and facilitator of modern behavior.
Because the human brain and human cognition have remained substantially unmodified since our origins, behavioral modernity and modern languages are assumed to be the product of cultural evolution via niche construction (Sinha, 2009, 2015b; Fogarty and Creanza, 2017). This may include feedback effects of culture on our cognitive architecture in the form of the creation of “cognitive gadgets” (Clarke and Heyes, 2017) through small modifications in learning and data-acquisition mechanisms like attentional focus or memory resources (Lotem et al., 2017), but without involving significant neuro-anatomical changes (Figure 1). However, this explanation may be insufficient: Recent research suggests that aspects of the human distinctive globular skull and brain might have evolved gradually within our species in response to accompanying genetic changes, reaching present-day human variation between about 100 and 35 thousand years ago (kya), in parallel with the emergence of behavioral modernity (Neubauer et al., 2018). Thus, it may not be entirely appropriate to equate neuro-anatomical modernity with cognitive modernity; instead, the language-ready brain can be conceived of as a brain with the potential for cognitive modernity. Here we argue that these neuro-anatomical and concomitant behavioral changes are largely manifestations of human self-domestication, which constitutes a possible pathway toward cognitive modernity and sophisticated linguistic abilities. We focus specifically on parenting and teaching behaviors as foundations of cultural transmission processes that may have facilitated the exploitation of our cognitive potential and, ultimately, the emergence of modern languages.
From things to thinking: Cognitive archaeology
From things to thinking: Cognitive archaeology. Adrian Currie, Anton Killin. Mind & Language, March 13 2019. https://doi.org/10.1111/mila.12230
Abstract: Cognitive archaeologists infer from material remains to the cognitive features of past societies. We characterize cognitive archaeology in terms of trace‐based reasoning, which in the case of cognitive archaeology involves inferences drawing upon background theory linking objects from the archaeological record to cognitive (including psychological, symbolic, and ideological) features. We analyse such practices, examining work on cognitive evolution, language, and musicality. We argue that the central epistemic challenge for cognitive archaeology is often not a paucity of material remains, but insufficient constraint from cognitive theories. However, we also argue that the success of cognitive archaeology does not necessarily require well‐developed cognitive theories: Success might instead lead to them.
Abstract: Cognitive archaeologists infer from material remains to the cognitive features of past societies. We characterize cognitive archaeology in terms of trace‐based reasoning, which in the case of cognitive archaeology involves inferences drawing upon background theory linking objects from the archaeological record to cognitive (including psychological, symbolic, and ideological) features. We analyse such practices, examining work on cognitive evolution, language, and musicality. We argue that the central epistemic challenge for cognitive archaeology is often not a paucity of material remains, but insufficient constraint from cognitive theories. However, we also argue that the success of cognitive archaeology does not necessarily require well‐developed cognitive theories: Success might instead lead to them.
From 2017... The material record and the antiquity of language: Material proxies show symbolism was adopted subsequent to origin of H. sapiens; the driver of symbolic thought was probably spontaneous invention of language
From 2017: The material record and the antiquity of language. Ian Tattersall. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, Volume 81, Part B, October 2017, Pages 247-254. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2017.01.043
Highlights
• Symbolic thought is detectable only via symbolic material proxies
• These show symbolism was adopted subsequent to origin of H. sapiens
• Driver of symbolic thought was probably spontaneous invention of language
Abstract: One view of language origins sees it as ancient and selection-driven; the other as recent and emergent. Such disagreement occurs because language is ephemeral, detectable only by indirect proxies. Because internalized language and symbolic thought are tightly linked, the best archaeological proxies for language are symbolic objects. Nothing indicates convincingly that any hominid behaved symbolically prior to Homo sapiens, which originated 200 kyr ago but started behaving symbolically only 100 kyr later. Most probably the necessary neural underpinnings arose exaptively in the extensive developmental reorganization that gave rise to anatomically distinctive Homo sapiens, and were recruited subsequently via a necessarily behavioral stimulus. This was most plausibly the spontaneous invention of externalized language, in an isolate of Homo sapiens in Africa, that initiated a feedback process between externalized structured language and internalized language/organized thought. These subsequently spread in tandem throughout a species already biologically predisposed for them. Despite its qualitatively remarkable result, this exaptive process would have been perfectly routine and unremarkable in terms of evolutionary mechanism.
Highlights
• Symbolic thought is detectable only via symbolic material proxies
• These show symbolism was adopted subsequent to origin of H. sapiens
• Driver of symbolic thought was probably spontaneous invention of language
Abstract: One view of language origins sees it as ancient and selection-driven; the other as recent and emergent. Such disagreement occurs because language is ephemeral, detectable only by indirect proxies. Because internalized language and symbolic thought are tightly linked, the best archaeological proxies for language are symbolic objects. Nothing indicates convincingly that any hominid behaved symbolically prior to Homo sapiens, which originated 200 kyr ago but started behaving symbolically only 100 kyr later. Most probably the necessary neural underpinnings arose exaptively in the extensive developmental reorganization that gave rise to anatomically distinctive Homo sapiens, and were recruited subsequently via a necessarily behavioral stimulus. This was most plausibly the spontaneous invention of externalized language, in an isolate of Homo sapiens in Africa, that initiated a feedback process between externalized structured language and internalized language/organized thought. These subsequently spread in tandem throughout a species already biologically predisposed for them. Despite its qualitatively remarkable result, this exaptive process would have been perfectly routine and unremarkable in terms of evolutionary mechanism.
Sunday, April 21, 2019
Italy, 1285-1550: The Renaissance art market was to a large extent competitive, and that an important determinant of artistic innovation was related to economic incentives
The Economics of Renaissance Art. Federico Etro. Ca' Foscari University of Venice, July 2017. https://www.unive.it/media/allegato/DIP/Economia/Working_papers/Working_papers_2017/WP_DSE_etro_13_17.pdf
Abstract: I analyze the Renaissance art market in Italy through a unique dataset on primary commissions between 1285 and 1550. Hedonic regressions on the real price of paintings allow me to advance evidencethat the art market was to a large extent competitive, and that an important determinant of artistic innovation during Renaissance was related to economic incentives. Price differentials reflected quality differentials as perceived at the time (whose proxy is the length of the biography of Vasari, in the 1568 Edition of his Vite) and did not depend on the regional destination of the commissions, as expected under monopolistic competition with free entry. I show an inverse-U relation between prices and ageof execution, which is consistent with a reputational theory of artistic effort, and a substantial increase of the real price of paintings since the 1420s. The latter suggests that artistic differentiation, deeper realism and innovations (as linear perspective) may have been driven by increasing profitability of the profession.
Abstract: I analyze the Renaissance art market in Italy through a unique dataset on primary commissions between 1285 and 1550. Hedonic regressions on the real price of paintings allow me to advance evidencethat the art market was to a large extent competitive, and that an important determinant of artistic innovation during Renaissance was related to economic incentives. Price differentials reflected quality differentials as perceived at the time (whose proxy is the length of the biography of Vasari, in the 1568 Edition of his Vite) and did not depend on the regional destination of the commissions, as expected under monopolistic competition with free entry. I show an inverse-U relation between prices and ageof execution, which is consistent with a reputational theory of artistic effort, and a substantial increase of the real price of paintings since the 1420s. The latter suggests that artistic differentiation, deeper realism and innovations (as linear perspective) may have been driven by increasing profitability of the profession.
It was in Florence more than in any other place that men became perfect in all the arts,especially in painting, since in that city men are spurred by three things. The first is censure,which is uttered freely and by many... The second is that, if a man wishes to live there, he must be industrious, which is naught else than to say that he must continually exercise his intelligence and his judgment, must be ready and adroit in his affairs, and, finally, must know how to make money... The third, which is perchance no less potent than the others, is an eagerdesire for glory and honor (Vasari, 1568)Keywords: Renaissance, Economic theory of art history
Puritanism in the Soviet Union: Re-printing of a 1997 book, Eric Naiman's "Sex in Public: The Incarnation of Early Soviet Ideology."
Puritanism in the Soviet Union: Re-printing of a 1997 book, Eric Naiman's "Sex in Public: The Incarnation of Early Soviet Ideology."
Princeton University Press, Legacy Edition, Mar 2019, https://www.amazon.com/Sex-Public-Incarnation-Soviet-Ideology/dp/0691026254
On 1 January 1925, Izvestiia published an attack on a new book by Martyn Liadov, the rector of Sverdlov Communist University, the highest Party school.1 In this work, based on a series of lectures to communist cadres under his tutelage, the rector had revealed that nonseasonal sexual desire and, implicitly, menstruation had been inflicted by capitalism on the female body. "In no animal," he had explainded, "is sexuality a dominant emotion throughout the whole year. It appears only at a specific time, during the female's spring head. [...] For a prolonged historical period (and this is clear from a wide range of historical sources) man, like all other animals, mated only once a year. [...] When a market economy developed, when private property began to be accumulated, then woman, too, was transformed into private propoerty and had to be prepared to satisfy her master's demand at any time."2 Refuting Liadov (a noted Party historian) and Aron Zalking (a "psychoneurologist" who frequently published articles about sex in the Komsomol press), the Soviet health commissar, Nikolai Semashko, charged in Izvestiia that they were turning Marx "inside out" in their ignorance of basic biological and historical facts. [...]
Princeton University Press, Legacy Edition, Mar 2019, https://www.amazon.com/Sex-Public-Incarnation-Soviet-Ideology/dp/0691026254
On 1 January 1925, Izvestiia published an attack on a new book by Martyn Liadov, the rector of Sverdlov Communist University, the highest Party school.1 In this work, based on a series of lectures to communist cadres under his tutelage, the rector had revealed that nonseasonal sexual desire and, implicitly, menstruation had been inflicted by capitalism on the female body. "In no animal," he had explainded, "is sexuality a dominant emotion throughout the whole year. It appears only at a specific time, during the female's spring head. [...] For a prolonged historical period (and this is clear from a wide range of historical sources) man, like all other animals, mated only once a year. [...] When a market economy developed, when private property began to be accumulated, then woman, too, was transformed into private propoerty and had to be prepared to satisfy her master's demand at any time."2 Refuting Liadov (a noted Party historian) and Aron Zalking (a "psychoneurologist" who frequently published articles about sex in the Komsomol press), the Soviet health commissar, Nikolai Semashko, charged in Izvestiia that they were turning Marx "inside out" in their ignorance of basic biological and historical facts. [...]
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