Individual Differences in First and Fourth Year College Women’s Short Term Mating Strategy Preferences and Perceptions

Using survey methodology, a cross sectional study was undertaken to ascertain whether first and fourth year college women have different perceptions and behavior associated with short term mating preferences. It was hypothesized that after incurring significant negative or costly experiences associated with hooking up, fourth year women would prefer men who had qualities associated with a desired long term partner as opposed to characteristics associated with short term mating partners. The results were partially consistent with the hypothesis. Reported preferences in a desired partner and perspective on hooking up differ between first and fourth year groups. No difference was found between frequency and willingness to hookup between the two groups. The findings are explained in terms of evolutionary theory, social exchange theory, and sexual script concepts.

Individual differences in first and fourth year college women’s short term mating strategy preferences and perceptions

Using survey methodology, a cross sectional study was undertaken to ascertain whether first and fourth year college women have different perceptions and behavior associated with short term mating preferences. It was hypothesized that after incurring significant negative or costly experiences associated with hooking up, fourth year women would prefer men who had qualities associated with a desired long term partner as opposed to characteristics associated with short term mating partners. The results were partially consistent with the hypothesis. Reported preferences in a desired partner and perspective on hooking up differ between first and fourth year groups. No difference was found between frequency and willingness to hookup between the two groups. The findings are explained in terms of evolutionary theory, social exchange theory, and sexual script concepts.

A Test of Absolute Numerousness Judgments in Lion-Tailed Macaques (Macaca Silenus)

Numerous studies have shown that animals have a sense of quantity and can distinguish between relative amounts. The concepts of relative numerousness, estimation, and subitizing are well established in species as diverse as chimpanzees and salamanders. Mobile animals have practical use for an understanding of number in common situations such as predation, mating, and competition. However, the ability to identify discrete quantities has only been firmly established in humans. The purpose of this study was to test for such “absolute numerousness” judgments in three lion-tailed macaques (Macaca silenus), a non-human primate. The three macaques tested had previously been trained on a computerized matchto- sample (MTS) task using geometric shapes. In this study, they were introduced to a MTS task containing a numerical cue, which required the monkeys to match stimuli containing either one or two items for rewards. If monkeys were successful at the initial matching task, they were tested with stimuli in which the position of the items and then the surface area of the items was controlled. If the monkeys could match successfully without using these non-numerical cues, they would demonstrate the capability to make absolute numerousness judgments. None of the monkeys matched successfully using the numerical cue, so no evidence of absolute numerosity was found. Each macaque progressed through the experiment in an individualized manner, attempting a variety of strategies to obtain rewards. These included side preferences and an alternating-side strategy that were unrelated to the numerical cues in the stimuli. When it became clear that the monkeys were not matching based on a stimulus-based cue, they were tested again on matching geometric shapes. All three macaques stopped using their alternate strategies and were able to match shapes successfully, demonstrating that they were still capable of completing the matching task. The data suggest that the monkeys could not transfer this ability to the numerical stimuli. This indicates that the macaques lack a sense of exact quantity, or that they could not recognize the numerical cues in the stimuli as being relevant to the task.

Exploration Of Survival Traits In The White-Nose Syndrome-Affected Big Brown Bat (Eptesicus Fuscus)

The widespread mortality of hibernating bats is associated with the emerging infectious disease white-nose syndrome (WNS), and has provoked a strong interest in understanding which bats will survive, and why? The ability of infected bats to resist WNS may depend upon variation in the expression of different characteristics. In a captive colony of big brown bats, I sought to characterize the phenotypic variability, repeatability, and survivability for several key ¿survival¿ traits, including: torpor patterns, microclimate preferences, and wound healing capacity. Torpor patterns were profiled using temperature sensitive dataloggers throughout the hibernation season, while microclimate preferences were quantified by using temperature-graded boxes and thermal imaging. In order to assess wound healing capacity, small wing biopsies were obtained from each bat and healing progress was tracked for one month. Individuals exhibited a wide range of phenotypes that were significantly influenced by sex and body condition. Repeatability estimates suggest that there is not a strong genetic basis for the observed variation in torpor patterns or microclimate preferences. Certain phenotypes (e.g., BMI) were associated with an increased probability of overwinter survivorship, which suggests a basis for intra-species differences in WNS susceptibility. The results from this project provide novel insight into what we know about ¿who will survive,¿ and will influence the direction and implementation of future conservation and mitigation strategies.

Human Preferences for Symmetry: Subjective Experience, Cognitive Conflict and Cortical Brain Activity

This study examines the links between human perceptions, cognitive biases and neural processing of symmetrical stimuli. While preferences for symmetry have largely been examined in the context of disorders such as obsessive-compulsive disorder and autism spectrum disorders, we examine various these phenomena in non-clinical subjects and suggest that such preferences are distributed throughout the typical population as part of our cognitive and neural architecture. In Experiment 1, 82 young adults reported on the frequency of their obsessive-compulsive spectrum behaviors. Subjects also performed an emotional Stroop or variant of an Implicit Association Task (the OC-CIT) developed to assess cognitive biases for symmetry. Data not only reveal that subjects evidence a cognitive conflict when asked to match images of positive affect with asymmetrical stimuli, and disgust with symmetry, but also that their slowed reaction times when asked to do so were predicted by reports of OC behavior, particularly checking behavior. In Experiment 2, 26 participants were administered an oddball Event-Related Potential task specifically designed to assess sensitivity to symmetry as well as the OC-CIT. These data revealed that reaction times on the OC-CIT were strongly predicted by frontal electrode sites indicating faster processing of an asymmetrical stimulus (unparallel lines) relative to a symmetrical stimulus (parallel lines). The results point to an overall cognitive bias linking disgust with asymmetry and suggest that such cognitive biases are reflected in neural responses to symmetrical/asymmetrical stimuli.