Review: The influence of relationships on neophobia and exploration in wolves and dogs
According to “The influence of relationships on neophobia and exploration in wolves and dogs,” an experiment was conducted to explore the effect of social context and relationship between pack members on the neophobic responses and explorative behavior of wolves and dogs. The scientists involved with the study believe that the amount of neophobia in wolves and dogs may stem from their relationships to humans. They believe that wolves would be more neophobic to human-related objects because of the negative interactions between wolves and humans in the past, but dogs would be less neophobic because of domestication.
In the experiment, eleven wolves and thirteen dogs were raised by humans, regularly trained, and experienced the same things. They were exposed to other members of their respective species at the age of two to three months, and by the time the wolves and dogs were five months old, they were integrated into their respective packs such that each of the six packs contained at least one pair of siblings with the exception of the fifth pack. The packs lived in enclosures with similar features.
The wolves and dogs were tested in three ways: alone, in a pair, and with the pack. Each condition was tested twice. For the alone condition, the same two objects were used for everyone. For the pair condition, all combinations were tested. A total of thirty-eight objects were used to test the neophobic reactions in wolves and dogs. The objects were kept away from food and handled with clean hands to minimize the influence of familiar scents. Each test was recorded with two video cameras from different angles.
From the videos, six categories of data were collected: the likelihood of approaching the object; approach latency, or the time the individual(s) took to approach within one meter of the object; contact latency, or the time the individual(s) took to touch the object for the first time after approaching within one meter of the object; total time spent investigating, or the total time of interactions with the object from a distance; total time spent manipulating, or the total time of direct interactions with the object; and frequency of fleeing, which is moving away from the object with the tail tucked and body lowered. The data were used to calculate general linear mixed-effect models (GLMM) and linear mixed-effect models (LME) using software R. Some of the data were also displayed in boxplots.
While the authors concluded that wolves are indeed more neophobic than dogs, they also concluded that wolves are more interested and explorative than dogs. All of the wolves were observed to approach the new objects but not all dogs. The contact latency boxplots support more neophobia in wolves by showing that dogs were quick to approach new objects whereas wolves were slower. The duration of object investigation boxplots also show that wolves are more explorative because they investigated the new objects longer than dogs.
The results are consistent with previous knowledge. In a previous experiment involving wolves and dogs, the wolves were observed to be more attentive to physical objects in the environment than dogs. That correlates to the results of this experiment because the boxplots of duration of object investigation show that wolves spent a longer period of time investigating new objects than dogs.
While this experiment brings insight to wolf and dog behavior, the method of how the wolves were raised is flawed. The results would be a better representation of wolf behavior if the wolves in the experiment were wild rather than raised by humans. Hand-raised wolves would be easier to work with, but people don’t interact with raised wolves. Wolves live in the wild, which means that any wolf a human would run across would most likely be wild. Wild wolves would also be more neophibic than raised wolves because raised wolves would be more familiar and less afraid of people. For the people who live in areas with wolf populations, if they don’t want to see wolves in their yards, then they should not leave objects unfamiliar to wolves outside. While the wolves may be hesitant to approach the objects, they will spend time investigating the objects to determine any beneficial value and will most likely return if there is.
Main Citation
Moretti, L., Hentrup, M., Kotrschal, K., & Range, F. (2015) The influence of relationships on neophobia and exploration in wolves and dogs. Animal Behaviour. 107:159-173.
Secondary Citation
Boitani, L., & Mech, L. D. (2006). Wolves : Behavior, Ecology, and Conservation. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Critique on Predicting Adult Metabolic Syndrome from Adolescent Poor Breakfast Habits By: Jingyih Lee
Maria Wennberg, Per E Gustafsson, Patrik Wennberg, and Anne Hammarstrom wrote the article “Poor breakfast habits in adolescence predict the metabolic syndrome in adulthood”. After the study was performed, the authors tried to justify that the study advocates the need for more breakfast programs in the schools of USA and Europe. The authors also tried to justify the methods that the study used to conduct the experiment. Although the results of this study agreed with previously performed studies, the study cannot be considered an accurate evaluation because of the faulty methods used. Furthermore, the conclusions were too broad considering the study’s sample size.
The main question addressed by this study was to question whether poor breakfast habits in the adolescent years could predict metabolic syndrome (obesity, high glucose levels) in adulthood. The methods of the study included, first, evaluating a group of adolescence of 16 years in a Northern Sweden school, and later, evaluating the same group when they were 43 years of age. The evaluation at 16 years of age consisted of a validated questionnaire given on one random day inquiring each adolescent what had for breakfast that morning, and other possible influential factors. The results of the study of the article noted a significant percentage of more individuals with obesity and high glucose levels in those with poor breakfast choices when compared to the other individuals who were deemed to have a healthy breakfast. The authors concluded that breakfast programs are necessary to promote breakfast eating in adolescences in schools especially in USA and Europe.
The methods of the study were faulty. The one-day questionnaire is not enough to ask the 16 year olds what they ate that morning. It is common for a student to be late that day and didn’t eat, while he usually eats a healthy breakfast. If a questionnaire was used, data should’ve been taken extensively throughout a period of time to ensure credibility, and not just one day to produce more accurate results. The study would be more useful if it had a clear control group of kids who ate normally and an experimental group of kids who didn’t eat breakfast.
The pool of 889 students located in a single location in Sweden is not adequate enough to conclude anything in USA or Europe. Out of all the subjects, only 88 of the subjects were deemed to have “poor breakfast habits.” Moreover, greatest difference is that the 16 year olds were able to drink alcohol and smoke legally in Sweden, where it is illegal of either action in USA.
While there is distortion in the study, its results can still inform the parents of adolescents of the possible long-term health benefits of enforcing their children to eat a healthy breakfast daily.
The study concluded that poor breakfast habits can predict metabolic syndrome correlated with previous studies. However, the implemented methods allowed for areas of distortion. The conclusion was also too broad for the achieved results. Another study with a much greater and more diverse sample size is needed. The study must also have clearer control and experimental groups when compared to this study.
Citations
Wennberg, M., Gustafsson, P. E., Wennberg, P., & Hammarström, A. (2015). Poor breakfast habits in adolescence predict the metabolic syndrome in adulthood. Public health nutrition, 18(01), 122-129.
- https://genomicsolutionsnow.com/Content/Library/Poor-breakfast-habits-in-youth-linked-to-MetSyn-as-adults-WM.pdf
How Exactly Does Parental Depression Effect Our Children?
There is almost no feeling comparable to the nostalgia one feels when looking back at childhood memories filled with a parent’s warm smile and genuine love. Unfortunately, not all people can experience these priceless moments. In the study, “Longitudinal Contribution of Maternal and Paternal Depression to Toddler Behaviors: Interparental Conflict and Later Depression as Mediators”, researchers at the University of Iowa determine whether interparental conflicts and recurring parental depression during the toddler stage of children are the mediating pathways of parental postpartum depression and child behavioral problems. However, their data are collected through unreliable means, indicate bias, and fail to provide sufficient evidence and explanation as to why their conclusions are correct.
In the present study, the researchers aim to show that interparental conflict between parents and depression during the toddler age of children are the means by which parental depression causes child behavioral problems. They argue that both paternal and maternal depression must be considered because a family is interconnected, and one parent’s depression influences the other. Furthermore, parental depression causes interparental conflict, which creates stress for the child and results in negative behavior.
Couples were chosen to fill out questionnaires concerning depression, marital conflicts, and child behaviors after the birth of their children and when their children were 45 months. M-plus software was used to analyze the data. The researchers concluded that recurring depression in mothers and fathers during toddlerhood is one of the main pathways for a child’s behavioral problems, whereas interparental conflict is not.
Although the article attempts to provide clarity as to how exactly parental depression causes child behavioral problems, it produces results that do not take varying ethnicities into account. The selected couples were 97% Caucasian, thus the data only supports the researchers’ conclusions in relation to Caucasian families and cannot be applied to the overall population. Therefore, young Caucasian couples with toddlers would benefit the most from reading the present study.
Furthermore, the data was collected through unreliable means. The researchers are making conclusions based on personal surveys completed by parents. Although parental accounts are important, parents will not accurately or objectively evaluate depressive symptoms and child behavior. Psychiatrists should have evaluated couples and their children at least once during the postpartum assessment and the toddler assessment to ensure that the questionnaires are valid accounts.
Lastly, the researchers use conclusions from previous studies to support their data without proper explanation or evidence that these conclusions apply. For example, they claim that findings from studies exclusively about maternal depression can be extended to paternal depression. However, many factors can explain why this is not accurate; one being a child’s preference towards a specific parent. This claim cannot be made without the researchers’ own evidence or at least proper justification as to how previous studies can be directly applied.
This study takes a closer look into the factors of parental depression and their relation to child behavioral problems. Alas, the article does not convey a strong, reliable, or wide-ranging argument and rather bases its conclusions on previous studies. However, the study does provide new insight into an often ignored topic; paternal depression. Future research could possibly delve into the role paternal depression plays in negative child behavior today.
Literature Cited
Fisher, S., Brock, R., O’Hara, M., Kopelman, R., & Stuart, S. (2015). Longitudinal contribution of maternal and paternal depression to toddler behaviors: Interparental conflict and later depression as mediators. Couple and Family Psychology: Research and Practice, 4, 61-73. Retrieved September 24, 2015, from http://psycnet.apa.org/index.cfm?fa=buy.optionToBuy&id=2015-09322-001
Dogs and the Earth’s Magnetic Field
The study “Dogs are sensitive to small variations of the Earth’s magnetic field” was written by Vlastimil Hart et al. and argued that dogs were sensitive to the Earth’s magnetic field and could respond to natural fluctuations of geomagnetic conditions. The data gathered in the study supported its argument, but the researchers failed to refute an alternate explanation for the phenomenon that they studied. As a result, they did not definitively prove anything, and they ought to design and conduct another experiment to discount the alternative explanation.
In their study, the researchers tried to determine whether dogs could align themselves with the Earth’s magnetic field, reasoning that such an ability would demonstrate magnetosensitivity. The researchers spent eighteen months walking 70 dogs in open outdoor spaces and measuring their body alignments during defecation and urination with a hand-held compass. The data were then organized according to the magnetic field conditions when they were recorded, and the researchers discovered that most of the dogs would align themselves North-South during defecation under calm magnetic field conditions. This behavior was negated when magnetic field conditions were unstable. The researchers argued the dogs weren’t aligning themselves to avoid sunlight in their eyes while defecating as they were positioned North-South under quiet magnetic field conditions irrespective of the time of day or the month, and it was more likely that they were walked in cloudy weather than sunny weather. The authors then concluded that dogs were magnetosensitive and could predictably respond to natural fluctuations.
The study’s conclusions were not convincing. It is true that the data suggests a correlation between calm magnetic field activity and body alignment in defecating dogs, but the authors did not convincingly invalidate the possibility of the dogs defecating in a certain direction in order to avoid being blinded by the sun. They tried to gloss over this by claiming that there was only a 33% chance that the dogs were walked sunny weather based on the average annual amount of sunshine at their locations. This does not prove anything; if the researchers wanted to make a convincing argument, they should have only examined the data collected on cloudy days in their study, which would eliminate the uncontrolled variable. However, it seems like the authors neglected to ask their volunteers to note the weather conditions each time they collected data, so this alternative explanation cannot be definitively ruled out. The researchers should conduct another experiment that controls the sun variable, and they should also get researchers around the world to participate in the study as well to prove that this phenomenon is not unique to the study’s location.
The study attempted to show that dogs could sense the Earth’s magnetic field. While the data from the study supports this conclusion, the researchers failed to refute the alternative possibility of the behavior of the dogs being influenced by the sun, so this study is inconclusive. The researchers must conduct more experiments if they wish to conclusively prove their case.
Literature Cited:
Hart. V, et al. (2013). Dogs are sensitive to small variations of the Earth’s magnetic field.
Frontiers in Zoology, 10:80. doi:10.1186/1742-9994-10-80
Review: An Empirical Investigation of Psychopathy in a Noninstitutionalized and NonCriminal Sample by Christine Chen
Many studies have been conducted on psychopaths found in jail but little is known about noninstitutionalized psychopaths. The little data that is available comes mainly from studies conducted on the student population. David DeMatteo and his group document their attempt at contributing to the scant reservoir of information available on psychopaths in the general population in “An Empirical Investigation of Psychopathy in a Noninstitutionalized and Noncriminal Sample”, a paper published in the journal Behavioral Sciences and the Law. However, their attempt proves to be useless as the experimental design limits the generalizations that they can make.
The purpose of this study was to use the PCL-R test, which is used for the identification of psychopaths, on subjects gathered from the general population and to compare these results with those obtained from incarcerated psychopaths. DeMatteo hypothesized that the noninstitutionalized sample, or those with no criminal record, would have lower overall PCL-R scores and higher factor one scores in comparison with incarcerated psychopaths. After the PCL-R test was conducted on the sample, a t-test was done and comparisons were made between the data gathered and those obtained from conducting the PCL-R test on incarcerated psychopaths. During analysis of these results, DeMatteo factored in the backgrounds and criminal history of the test subjects and concluded that high factor one scores, which are related to personality, may provide an explanation for the lack of criminal record for noninstitutionalized test subjects despite their elevated overall PCL-R scores. Because the PCL-R scores for subjects in the High Psychopathic Group were similar to those in the institutionalized sample, DeMatteo also concluded that these participants are more likely to commit a crime. While his hypotheses were supported by the results, some of the claims that DeMatteo made are not.
The correlation between high factor one scores and the lack of a criminal record is unsupported. DeMatteo made this claim because the factor one scores for the noncriminal group were higher than their factor two scores, which determine the extent to which one’s behavior rather than personality matches that of a psychopath’s. However, the data is inadequate in supporting the conclusion because there are many flaws in the design of the experiment. These include: a small sample size, the exclusion of females, the lack of incentive for participation, and a restricted location. These factors can all affect the outcome of the experiment.
Another claim that DeMatteo made is that the participants who were part of the high psychopathic group are more likely to commit a crime due to their high total PCL-R scores. As aforementioned, DeMatteo attributed part of the sample’s lack of criminal record to their high factor one scores; yet, in assessing the chances of these participants posing a danger to society, he compared their total PCL-R scores. Although their total PCL-R scores were elevated, their factor one scores were higher than their factor two scores. Even though it is not supported, according to DeMatteo’s previous conclusion, this would mean these participants’ psychopathic qualities are exhibited more strongly in their personalities rather than their behaviors, a contradiction to his conclusion regarding the participants’ risk of committing a crime.
The findings in the study provide insight on psychopaths in the general population; however, the flaws in the experiment overshadow what new data the study can contribute. Although the results generated are limited in its usefulness for making generalizations, this study provides impetus for the continued research on noninstitutionalized psychopaths.
References
DeMatteo, D., Heilbrun, K. and Marczyk, G. (2006), An empirical investigation of psychopathy
in a noninstitutionalized and noncriminal sample. Behav. Sci. Law, 24: 133–146. doi: 10.1002/bsl.667
Review: Reef Fishes in Biodiversity Hotspots Are at Greatest Risk from Loss of Coral Species
In the article, “Reef Fishes in Biodiversity Hotspots Are at Greatest Risk from Loss of Coral Species”, Holbrook and other researchers bring to the readers attention the importance of coral reef systems that are currently under attack from numerous global and anthropogenic changes. The researchers hypothesize that the effect of damaging habitats will be the strongest where there is the highest biodiversity because of the specialization by the fishes there. Although there were experiments done on similar hypothesis, the author pointed out that their specific hypothesis has not been tested yet. Therefore, the study’s main research question is “How will different geographically diverse communities respond to identical changes to the diversity of the corals in the region?”
In the article, the researchers conducted the main study with building 45 different patch reefs with different levels of coral diversity on large flat sandy areas with no other habitat in the same area in three locations with different levels of biodiversity. Over a course of 8-12 months, divers recorded the different species that were on or interacted with the patch reefs four times. After the collection, the data were analyzed by using the total number of species on each patch during the final survey. The researchers used canonical analysis of principal coordinates (CAP) to find the influence of the coral species on the fish communities. The sample size was different in the three locations so Type III Sums of Squares was also used to find statistical significance.
The researchers found that the relationship between biodiversity and habitat providing corals correlates positively with the size of the regional species pool. They argue that species that are specific to their habitat in areas with high biodiversity are at a higher risk of local extinction compared to the regions with lower species richness because those areas are faced with many global environmental changes. The researchers also bring up two points that may contribute to the higher risk of local extinction. One, fish that that have high specialization often also often exist in small population sizes, which escalates local extinction. Second, co-occurring coral species differ in the biodiversity of the species they support. Therefore, if these corals that have a high habitat providing functions are depleting, the species there will also have a local extinction risk. Lastly, the author also argues that if communities with high diversity are vulnerable to a greater extinction risk, then this implies that regions of lower biodiversity will be more resistant to the reductions in coral species.
The information in the article is consistent with previous knowledge about coral reefs ecosystems and the different threats they face. Overall, the researchers make valid conclusions from the analysis of the data, however, some inferences cannot be completely justified. The communities with lower diversity will be more resistant to reductions in the diversity of the coral habitats is a weak argument because ‘resistance’ implies that they are actively against the reductions whereas the data only shows that there is a higher chance of local extinction in species-rich areas. Information from this article would be most beneficial to other scientists that focus on future implications of the global and anthropogenic changes on the extinction rates of various species.
Coral reefs currently house one-third of the marine species in the world and often exist in areas with high biodiversity. Research has found that areas with high biodiversity are at a higher risk for local extinction of species because of the specialization of the species there. With this new information, we can better understand the repercussions of the changes we impose on the environment and work to correct those for future generations.
Literature Cited
Holbrook SJ, Schmitt RJ, Messmer V, Brooks AJ, Srinivasan M, Munday PL, et al. (2015) Reef Fishes in Biodiversity Hotspots Are at Greatest Risk from Loss of Coral Species. PLoS ONE 10(5): e0124054. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0124054
Get the Kids to Bed: A Longitudinal Study Correlates Sleep to Wellness in Adolescents
A recent study conducted among adolescents in Norway and Switzerland made an important connection between the duration of sleep received, and one’s psychological well-being. Researchers at the University of Basel wanted to find out if decreased sleep duration in adolescents is a good predictor of lower subjective psychological across the span of one year. The article draws from the knowledge base of sleep studies associating longer sleep with a greater sense of well-being. It adds to that knowledge by studying the effects of reduced sleep over a long term with a large sample size.
Eight hundred eighty-six adolescents from Switzerland and seven hundred fifteen adolescents in Norway were asked to report the time they had gone to bed and time they had woken up on a day in May of 2012, 6 months later in November, and again the following May. This was done during a public school lesson and followed with a series of surveys given to assess subjective psychological well-being (SPW).
The researchers analyzed the by splitting them into groups and correlating each group’s sleep duration scores with their SPW scores. There were three age groups per country: 10-11 year olds, 12-13 year olds and 14-15 year olds. The sleep durations of the six total groups were correlated with subjective psychological well being scores at the three times data were measured (May 2012, November 2012 and March 2013). There were a total of 18 resulting correlations, one correlation for each of the three age groups, in each country, at each data collection wave.
The authors argue that adolescents who get more sleep have a higher sense of well-being. Although sixteen of the eighteen groups exhibited a statistically significant positive relationship between sleep duration and well-being, the size of the correlation was quite small. This suggests that although sleep is definitely important, it’s not a paramount predictor of well being. Additionally, pre-bed-time behaviors which influence sleep quality have been shown to be an important predictor of well being, yet the authors neglected test for this variable. Also, instead of attempting to derive causality by using SPW at a given time as a predictor of sleep, the study should implement an experimental design which increases sleep and measures SPW for further research. This would likely have to be done with a smaller sample size but would serve as an excellent supplement if similar age groups and sampling regions are used.
Although the study had its shortcomings, this is often the case among scientific research and the findings of this study have important implications. Is sleep undervalued in modern society? If we know that sleeping more causes adolescents to feel better about themselves, should we provide more education in public schools on the benefits of increased sleep? Moving forward it’s probably best to keep these benefits in mind and use them to guide decisions in parenting and education. May the next generation of adolescents rest well so we develop a population of healthy, mentally strong young adults.
The Search for Extragalactic Aliens in 2015
Are we alone in our universe or not? Answering this question seems to be purely science fiction. Yet, for several decades, since the birth of the radio humanity has been probing the sky for messages from ET’s (Extraterrestrial’s). We have also been sending our own messages out into space. In hopes that we may spur contact with an alien species. Scientists have been studying the probability of ET existence since the 1900’s. In a universe of over 100 billion galaxies each with 100 billion stars there simply must exist other life forms. If not than the probability of us existing would literally be zero. Earth would actually be one out of 1000 quintillion. From a non-humancentric point of view, that statistic is impossible to swallow. Many studies have been done to attempt to find or communicate with these aliens. The Drake Equation gave a qualitative and quantitative analysis of the probability of there being other aliens. The Kardashev paper classifies different types of aliens. The Dyson paper reports on possible astroengineering projects advanced aliens might conduct. Then there is the Fermi Paradox, which questions why in a universe that is suppose to be thriving of life and intelligence, have we not yet found ET’s. This question epitomizes the endless search many have done, to only turn up nothing. A study published this year by (Zackrisson et al) attempted to advance the search for alien life forms even more. This time the team of scientists wanted to know, instead of trying to directly communicate with aliens, could we probe for galactic class aliens by searching for the effects of their existence in the night sky, in their galaxies.
Earlier searches for aliens sent out messages and attempted to find other messages from other civilizations. However, this would mean that an alien species would have to know of our existence. Because a message that can be read must be aimed directly at Earth. If they wanted to send a signal out in all directions an immense amount of energy would be needed. This is how Kardashev, a Soviet scientist began to classify three types of civilizations. The questions started by attempting to solve how much energy would be needed to send a signal in all directions. Then turned into classifying energy levels of advanced civilizations. Kardashev determined that there are 3 civilization types. They are planetary, solar, and galactic, a species becomes solar, for example when it has used all the energy from its sun, and galactic when all the energy from its galaxy. This classification leaves little to dispute with. This is because Kardashev offers no means of getting these energies, only that this energy would be necessary to support these civilizations, and their massive projects. And it indeed would be necessary. Also it follows the growth of humans energy needs up till now, and quantifies that in terms of suns, as the sun outputs an very high amount of energy. It is a possibility that these aliens would get the energy needed from the sun. This is when Dyson proposed the Dyson sphere. Keep in mind a true Dyson sphere is not a hollow ball that surrounds a star like in sci-fi movies, rather a cloud of solar panel satellites that orbit their star. This lead to a change in direction in how scientists were searching for aliens. However, scientists later determined that it is better to search for aliens in a more indirect way, such as finding traces of their existence. In creating a Dyson sphere or cloud, the solar panels would absorb much of the energy from the sun. However, via the 1st law of thermodynamics thermal radiation would be re radiated by these panels. This would give a star this weird light curve, and scientists know the common light curves of a star, and if the light curve does not look like the normal, there may be a Dyson sphere there. This was the premise for a 1999 study by Annis that attempted to find these changes on a galactic scale. However, though the study turned up a conclusion that such dimmed galaxies did not exist, they only used 50 galaxies. That is where this more current study picks up.
Published in the September version of The Astrophysical Journal is a paper that attempts to advance the search for ET’s. This time the researchers will be using a massive database of galaxies from which they will study 1400 galaxies. There is also a known relationship in astrophysics known as the Tully Fisher relationship. Essentially, for certain galaxy types (such as spiral) there is a clear relationship between the brightness and the rotation speed and the mass of a galaxy. This dataset is much larger than the previous study done in 1999. But the researchers also made sure to minimize the uncertainty wherever they could. They used only galaxy clusters that could very easily have the cluster’s distance measured. This is important because the farther out a galaxy is the greater its redshift will be. Scientists use this redshift to measure the true brightness of galaxies (making them all comparable despite different distances and dimming). Thus having an accurate reading of the clusters brightness means a more accurate reading on any galaxy within that cluster that may have galactic aliens taking over, and thus be dimmer. These candidates would appear to be outliers relative to the rest of their galaxy cluster. The researchers had to carefully select their galaxies. For instance a set of galaxies within a cluster were weirdly dimmed. It was a possible “Eureka” moment. But the scientists determined that they were instead another cluster much farther away and that they needed to ignore those galaxies in their results. In the end the researchers determined that around .3% or slightly less of the galaxies surveyed could be Kardashev type 3 (galactic aliens) candidates. For many of these candidates natural phenomena both known or unknown was attributed to the findings. The paper determined that current methods might not be enough. One of the possible additions to the study could be to look for semi-galactic civilizations, where instead of an entire galaxy being dimmed and trying to search for that, only a portion of the disk of a galaxy would be oddly darkened. This would still be difficult to study because of all of the dark clouds that exist in our galaxy and others that might create false data.
These indirect astrophysical studies of aliens create a few theoretical qualms. For instance the Kardashev Type civilizations are based off of energy necessity, which is difficult to dispute. However, the proposed solution to attaining such energy, a Dyson sphere is not theoretically sound. Of course there a myriad of other unforeseeable technologies that could be invented on Earth in the next hundred years that could make solar power technology obsolete. Stating that solar technology is a must is a very difficult statement to make. However, considering probability, it could indeed be possible that at least one advanced civilization is using solar power. Then there is the other problem about assuming that civilizations need to reach a galactic scale or ever will. Current theoretical restrictions on the speed of light and a lack of a way around that restriction make galactic travel seem impossible. But again unforeseeable technology could arise and make that previous statement false. Then there is also this. In 1999 Annis (a different paper) published an article that suggested that a phase shift was currently occurring in our galaxy. That GRB, or massive concentrated bursts of energy from various astronomical phenomena could easily cause extinctions around the galaxy and on Earth. The paper also found that the mean time between GRB occurrence and the mean time for intelligent life evolution have for a long period of time been at odds with one another. An intelligent species would be on the verge of evolving and then “flash” and all of a sudden they are extinct. Only recently (meaning the past hundreds of thousands of years) has the period of GRB flashes and intelligent evolution become the same. Meaning that soon a phase shift will be occurring, where intelligent life thrives all around the galaxy as GRB’s become less frequent. This is good news for our galaxy but poses a question for researchers attempting to search for ET’s in other galaxies. If we consider that for spiral galaxy (same galaxy type as us) that this phase transition time is the same per galaxy, and that we are looking at galaxies in their past due to restrictions forced by the speed of light then it’s entirely possible that these galaxies too are undergoing a phase transition currently, but that we are looking at them at a much younger age, before this transition occurs. It would mean that we would not be able to see these aliens, even if these galaxies have the right properties to allow for their existence. This would limit our capacity to ever look for such aliens until these galaxies, from our perspective of us in the past become old enough for us to see intelligent life thrive there as well. This phase transition too poses another question, why are we one of the few planets to be spared by a GRB during our evolution. Some theories state that the late Ordovician Extinction occurred via a GRB event, but the paper states that every day civilizations in our galaxy are being killed by GRB’s, yet we have not been. This points to a statement that Earth is statistically lucky in not having its species killed off. Or perhaps there are other reasons and even more phase transitions like this related to life thriving in the habitat of the universe.
Though this paper provided a conclusion that did not find aliens, and though there are some fundamental theoretical questions that remained unsolved, this paper pioneers a way to search for aliens. This method of searching for aliens in galaxies far away by their effects on a galaxy is definitely going in the right direction. These studies need more work, but these researchers are determined to end the Fermi Paradox. And to finally answer that great question, are we alone?
Main Citation
Zackrisson, E; Calissendorff, P; Asadi, S; Nyholm, A. 2015 Extragalactic Seti: The Tully-Fisher Relation as a probe for Dysonian Astro Engineering in disk galaxies, The Astrophysical Journal, 39, 511-548
Other Citations
Annis, J. 1999, An Astrophysical Explanation for the Great Silence, Experimental Astrophysics Group
Annis, J. 1999, Placing A Limit on Star-Fed Kardashev Type III Civilisations, JBIS, 52, 33
Dyson, F. 1960, Search for artificial stellar sources, Science, 131, 1667
Kardashev, N. S. 1964,Transmission of information by extraterrestrial civilizations, Soviet Astronomy, 8, 217
Emotion Dysregulation May Not Be Solely Attributed to ADHD
The article “Emotion Regulation in Adolescent Males with Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: Testing the Effects of Comorbid Conduct Disorder” was written by Northover, C., Thapar, A., Langley, K., and Goozen, S. The researchers’ essentially state that although attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has often been associated with emotion dysregulation, it is not a unique characteristic of ADHD. Since few studies have actually experimentally investigated this while considering the effects of comorbid conduct disorder (CD), emotion dysregulation may not actually be a core trait of ADHD. CD is a psychological disorder within children or adolescents that is characterized by a range of problematic behaviors, including defiant behaviors and antisocial activities. Overall, this article does well in informing the reader while trying to reform the original view of ADHD.
This present study has taken the initiative in comparing adolescent boys with ADHD, ADHD + CD, and typical controls by using an economic decision-making game known as the Ultimatum Game (UG). The UG is a way of measuring emotion regulation by analyzing its effects on decision-making. This involved two players with an opportunity to split a total of 10 points, one being the proposer and the other being the responder. The offers varied in fairness, allowing the contribution of ADHD and CD symptom scores to the acceptance levels of unfair offers, to be analyzed. A total of 231 participants were recruited and categorized into four groups. These groups included ADHD, ADHD with low aggressive CD symptoms, ADHD with high aggressive CD symptoms, and a control. There was no significant difference in acceptance rates between groups for the fair offers and the highly unfair offers. However, the groups differed significantly for the moderately unfair offers. The group with ADHD and high aggressive CD symptoms were found to have rejected significantly more moderately unfair offers. Ultimately the results and the analysis suggest that it’s the subgroup of boys with ADHD and high aggressive CD that has trouble regulating emotion, which results in more “irrational” decisions. Another important outcome was that the group with only ADHD didn’t differ from the control group in performance on the task.
This article was quite clear and thorough in explaining the idea behind the common association of emotion dysregulation to ADHD, as well as the arguments for and against it.
Several issues within this study can be found however. The study only focused on male adolescents rather than both male and female; therefore the results may not necessarily be extended to all children with ADHD.
The study also didn’t normalize the number of samples per group. The four groups consisted of 47, 90, 64, and 30 participants. Although in certain experiments the samples per group isn’t always standardized, the lower number of 30 participants within the ADHD with high aggressive CD symptoms group that produced the statistically different results might have affected the significance.
Despite these issues, there is a sufficient amount of evidence in support of the idea that emotion dysregulation is not attributed to ADHD alone. Those who are interested in learning more about ADHD, UG, and how emotion dysregulation affects adolescents are encouraged to read the full article.
As a result of this recent article, we can better understand that those who are diagnosed with ADHD don’t necessarily have an underlying problem with regulating emotion too. Those with only ADHD provided the same results as those in the control group, showing that their decision-making in the UG sense is very similar to the rest of us. With these findings and results, the article contributes important information that calls for further investigation within this field.
Literature Cited
Northover, C., Thapar, A., Langley, K., & Goozen, S. (2015). Emotion Regulation in Adolescent Males with Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: Testing the Effects of Comorbid Conduct Disorder. Brain Sciences, 5(3), 369-386.
Review: Invasive species and their parasites: eastern cottontail rabbit Sylvilagus floridanus and Trichostrongylus affinis (Graybill, 1924) from Northwestern Italy
Researchers Tizzani, Catalano, Rossi, Duignan, and Meneguz published an article entitled, “Invasive species and their parasites: eastern cottontail rabbit Sylvilagus floridanus and Trichostrongylus affinis (Graybill, 1924) from Northwestern Italy” in the Parasitology Research journal in 2014. The article discusses the possibility of other parasite species being present in the invasive eastern cottontail Sylvilagus floridanus in Europe other than the species that have already been reported. This article presents the first documentation of the nematode Trichostrongylus affinis in a S. floridanus in Europe but provides no concrete evidence that explains the nematode’s presence in the invasive cottontails of Europe.
The researchers seek to find out whether or not there are other parasite species in the In 2010, 51 male and 50 female cottontails were gathered from an agricultural plain in Italy. Their gastrointestinal tracts were isolated and dissected so that their intestinal contents could be examined with a stereoscope to collect parasitic worms. The researchers found the nematode T. affinis After statistical analysis the sex of the cottontails was concluded to have no effect on the presence of T. affinis but young cottontails were more likely to have the nematode than the adult cottontails were. The researchers give possible reasons for the decrease in parasite diversity from the cottontail’s natural range to its inhabitance in Europe, including that some parasites lacked resources to thrive. The overlapped inhabitance of the cottontail and the native European brown hare (Lepus europaeus) may facilitate the transmission of T. affinis. The discovery of T. affinis in the cottontails in Europe may contribute to the study of the competition between the cottontail and hare but more research of parasites in both animals needs to be conducted.
The extent of the researchers’ analysis consists of the identification of the T. affinis and the calculation of its prevalence amongst different ages and sexes of the cottontails. The researchers only provide potential explanations of why only a few nematode species out of the eighteen known to affect the eastern cottontail are being seen in Italy. Evidence from data is not used to support their suggestions that the eastern cottontails introduced to Europe came from a small portion of the whole cottontail population or that conditions for the parasites’ transmission or population development were not met. The researchers found T. affinis in the cottontails of Europe but fail to provide definite reasons as to why it was found in their sample of cottontails.
Although the article does provide the first report of T. affinis in the invasive cottontails of Europe, it does not provide much analysis of the nematode. However, this article suggests possible causes of the T. affinis population distribution which may lead to future studies about that and the effects the parasite species may have on the competition between the invasive S. floridanus and native L. europaeus.
References
Tizzani, P., Catalano, S., Rossi, L., Duignan, P. J., & Meneguz, P. G. (2014). Invasive species and their parasites: eastern cottontail rabbit Sylvilagus floridanus and Trichostrongylus affinis (Graybill, 1924) from Northwestern Italy. Parasitology Research, 113(4), 1301-1303. doi:10.1007/s00436-014-3768-1
