Deciding when to "cash in" when outcomes are continuously improving: an escalating interest task

A first-person shooter video game was adapted for the study of choice between smaller sooner and larger later outcomes. Participants chose when to fire a weapon that increased in damage potential over a 10 s interval, an escalating interest situation. Across two experiments, participants demonstrated sensitivity to the nature of the mathematical function that defined the relationship between waiting and damage potential. In Experiment 1, people tended to wait longer when doing so allowed them to eliminate targets more quickly. In Experiment 2, people tended to wait longer to increase the probability of a constant magnitude outcome than to increase the magnitude of a 100% certain outcome that was matched for the same expected value (i.e., probability times magnitude). The two experiments demonstrated sensitivity to the way in which an outcome improves when the outcome is continuously available. The results also demonstrate that this new video game task is useful for generating sensitivity to delay to reinforcement over time scales that are typically used in nonhuman animal studies.     

Growth releases of three shade‐tolerant species following canopy gap formation in old‐growth forests

Questions: Do the number, duration and magnitude of growth releases following formation of natural, fine‐scale canopy gaps differ among shade‐tolerant Thuja plicata, Tsuga heterophylla and Abies amabilis? What is the relative importance of tree‐level and gap‐level variables in predicting the magnitude and duration of releases? What does this tell us about mechanisms of tree species coexistence in such old‐growth forests? Location: Coastal British Columbia, Canada. Methods: We estimated the timing of formation of 20 gaps using dendroecological techniques and extracted increment cores from all three species growing around or within gaps. Using a species‐ and ecosystem‐specific release‐detection method, we determined the number of trees experiencing a release following gap formation. We quantified the duration and magnitude of individual releases and estimated the influence of tree‐level and gap‐level variables on these release attributes. Results: Eighty‐seven per cent (304 of 348) of all trees experienced a release following gap formation. T. heterophylla and A. amabilis experienced higher magnitude and longer duration releases than T. plicata. The effect of diameter on the duration of releases varied among species, with T. heterophylla and A. amabilis experiencing decreasing, and T. plicata experiencing increasing, duration of releases with increasing diameter. The effect of growth rate prior to a release on the magnitude of releases varied among trees of different diameters, with the slowest growing and smallest individuals of all species experiencing the most intensive releases. Conclusions: Our results provide detailed information on the number, duration and magnitude of growth releases of the above three species following gap formation. Differences in response to canopy gaps suggest differences in how these species ascend to the canopy strata. T. plicata may be less dependent on gaps to reach the canopy. Differing strategies for ascending to the canopy strata may be important in facilitating coexistence of these three species in old‐growth forests of coastal British Columbia.     

The stay/switch model describes choice among magnitudes of reinforcers

The stay/switch model is an alternative to the generalized matching law for describing choice in concurrent procedures. The purpose of the present experiment was to extend this model to choice among magnitudes of reinforcers. Rats were exposed to conditions in which the magnitude of reinforcers (number of food pellets) varied for staying at alternative 1, switching from alternative 1, staying at alternative 2 and switching from alternative 2. A changeover delay was not used. The results showed that the stay/switch model provided a good account of the data overall, and deviations from fits of the generalized matching law to response allocation data were in the direction predicted by the stay/switch model. In addition, comparisons among specific conditions suggested that varying the ratio of obtained reinforcers, as in the generalized matching law, was not necessary to change the response and time allocations. Other comparisons suggested that varying the ratio of obtained reinforcers was not sufficient to change response allocation. Taken together these results provide additional support for the stay/switch model of concurrent choice.     

First results of inventarisation of Blattodea,Mantodea and Orthoptera (Insecta: Polyneoptera) of the Dinara Mountain area

The polyneopteran insect fauna of Dinara Mountain area has been poorly studied in the past, with only scarce data published on the topic. During a study conducted in 2012 and 2013, a total of 19 better-investigated localities were visited and 68 species of Blattodea, Mantodea and Orthoptera were recorded for the first time in the investigated area, one species being recorded for the first time in Croatia. Our results, together with all available museum and literature data, are presented in this paper to complete the picture of polyneopteran insect fauna inhabiting this area.     

Time left in the mouse

Evidence suggests that the online combination of non-verbal magnitudes (durations, numerosities) is central to learning in both human and non-human animals [Gallistel, C.R., 1990. The Organization of Learning. MIT Press, Cambridge, MA]. The molecular basis of these computations, however, is an open question at this point. The current study provides the first direct test of temporal subtraction in a species in which the genetic code is available. In two experiments, mice were run in an adaptation of Gibbon and Church's [Gibbon, J., Church, R.M., 1981. Time left: linear versus logarithmic subjective time. J. Exp. Anal. Behav. 7, 87-107] time left paradigm in order to characterize typical responding in this task. Both experiments suggest that mice engaged in online subtraction of temporal values, although the generalization of a learned response rule to novel stimulus values resulted in slightly less systematic responding. Potential explanations for this pattern of results are discussed.     

Haloperidol, dynamics of choice, and the parameters of the matching law

The idea that dopamine mediates the reinforcing effects of stimuli persists in the field of neurosciences. The present study shows that haloperidol, a dopamine antagonist, does not eliminate the reinforcing value of food reinforcers. The ratio of reinforcers changed seven times across two levers within sessions, modeling a dynamic environment. The magnitude of the reinforcer was manipulated independently of the reinforcer ratio. Four doses of intraperitoneal haloperidol were assessed over periods of 12 daily sessions. Haloperidol did not impair the discrimination that the rats established between rich and lean levers; the response distributions favored the lever associated with the higher probability of reinforcement and the larger pellets. The parameters of the generalized matching law (bias and sensitivity) were used to estimate effects of haloperidol upon the motor system and upon the rats' motivation for food reinforcers.     

基于高通量测序的杨树人工林根际土壤真菌群落结构

研究不同根序细根根际土壤微生物群落组成结构对深入了解根系-微生物互作关系具有重要意义.本研究采用Illumina MiSeq测序平台,对杨树人工林非根际土壤和不同根序细根根际土壤的真菌群落结构进行分析.物种注释结果显示: 杨树1～2级根(R1)、3级根(R2)和4～5级(R3)根际及非根际土壤(NR)中分别包含128、124、130和101个真菌属,表明杨树根际存在对真菌群落构建的选择性机制.不同根序根际土壤中相对丰度>1%的真菌属有7个,木霉属在1～2级根根际土壤中丰度较高,毛孢子菌属和曲霉属分别是3级根和4～5级根根际土壤中丰度最高的真菌属.α多样性指数表明: 根际土壤真菌的多样性在不同根序间存在显著差异,低级根显著高于高级根(P<0.05).β多样性指数表明: 真菌群落随着序级的升高差异性不断上升,相似性不断降低.不同根序细根根际真菌群落的趋异化组成和结构与细根功能具有密切关系.     

海南岛4个热带阔叶树种前5级细根的形态、解剖结构和组织碳氮含量

细根具有复杂的分支系统, 以根序(root order)为取样单元的细根生理生态学研究正在成为根系生态学研究领域的重要内容。该研究以海南岛尖峰岭4个热带阔叶树种海南蕈树(Altingia obovata)、厚壳桂(Cryptocarya chinensis)、山杜英(Elaeocarpus sylvestris)和黄桐(Endospermum chinense)为研究对象, 测定了1-5级细根的形态、解剖结构和组织碳(C)、氮(N)含量, 旨在探讨这些根系特征之间的联系。研究表明: 4个树种的细根形态差异较大, 但在树种水平上直径、根长和组织密度均随着根序的升高而增加, 比根长则随着根序的升高而降低; 低级根(前2级根或前3级根)具有皮层组织, 是典型的吸收根, 而高级根皮层组织消失, 是典型的运输和储藏根; 影响直径大小最重要的因子是皮层厚度, 它可以解释细根直径变异的97%, 而维管束直径仅能解释细根直径变异的70%; 根组织N和C浓度受维管束-根直径比(维根比)的影响, 随着维根比增加, 组织N浓度显著降低, 组织C浓度显著升高。4个树种细根的C/N比的变异受组织N浓度的影响程度为76%, 而受C浓度的影响程度不足10%。上述结果表明, 细根的形态特征、解剖结构和组织化学含量之间存在着紧密联系, 这为我们理解根系结构与功能变异提供了重要依据。     

Variability and stability in the rank relations of nonhuman primate females: Analysis by computer simulation

This paper summarizes results of simulation analyses aimed at elucidating the way in which two important dimensions of female rank orders—nepotism and age-gradedness—are affected by variation in individual strategies of rank acquisition on the one hand and by variation in population-wide demographic parameters (eg, birth rate, death rate, etc) on the other. Female rank orders in simulated primate groups were characterized by substantial variability on a year-to-year basis in both nepotism and age-gradedness owing to stochastic processes alone. Although, in general, groups characterized by strongly nepotistic rank orders were not also strongly age-graded, quantitative measures of these two rank-order dimensions for individual groups showed little stability over intervals of time exceeding 3 years. Surprisingly, changes in birth and death rates did not strongly affect either nepotism or age-gradedness so long as average group size remained constant. However, in populations characterized by expanding or declining group size, variation in demographic parameters did indeed exert a powerful influence on the structure of female rank orders. Both nepotism and age-gradedness were also strongly affected, and in quite different ways, by changes in the rules of rank acquisition by females. In sum, the present analyses suggest that differences between species in the degree of nepotism and age-gradedness characteristic of their female rank orders does not in and of itself constitute evidence that the females of those species use markedly different strategies of rank acquisition.