Humor and preschoolers' trust: Sensitivity to changing intentions.

This research demonstrates that preschoolers (a) avoid trusting informants with humorous intentions when learning novel information and (b) flexibly consider current intentions rather than initial intentions when determining who to trust. In Study 1 (N=61), 3- and 4-year-olds based their trust on intentions or intentional cues alone, trusting a sincere informant over a joker, even when no prior accuracy or inaccuracy was displayed. In Study 2 (N=32), 3- and 4-year-olds flexibly based their trust on the informants' current intentions or intentional cues rather than their initial ones. Children trusted a sincere informant, who originally joked, over a joker, who was originally sincere. In Study 3 (N=89), 3-, 4-, and 5-year-olds tracked changing intentions, and not just intentional cues, in determining who to trust. Children trusted an informant who joked during training trials but was sincere during test trials over an informant who was ignorant during training trials and was sincere during test trials. However, if the ignorant informant became knowledgeable and the joker continued to joke, the pattern reversed. This is the first study to show that preschoolers consider intentions to joke when learning information. This is also the first study to show that preschoolers do not see trust as stable but rather see it as a function of changing intentions.

Parents Produce Explicit Cues That Help Toddlers Distinguish Joking and Pretending.

While separate pieces of research found parents offer toddlers cues to express that they are (1) joking and (2) pretending, and that toddlers and preschoolers understand intentions to (1) joke and (2) pretend, it is not yet clear whether parents and toddlers consider joking and pretending to be distinct concepts. This is important as distinguishing these two forms of non-literal acts could open a gateway to understanding the complexities of the non-literal world, as well as the complexities of intentions in general. Two studies found parents offer explicit cues to help 16- to 24-month-olds distinguish pretending and joking. Across an action play study (n = 25) and a verbal play study (n = 40) parents showed more disbelief and less belief through their actions and language when joking versus pretending. Similarly, toddlers showed less belief through their actions, and older toddlers showed less belief through their language. Toddlers' disbelief could be accounted for by their response to parents' language and actions. Thus, these studies reveal a mechanism by which toddlers learn to distinguish joking and pretending. Parents offer explicit cues to distinguish these intentions, and toddlers use these cues to guide their own behaviors, which in turn allows toddlers to distinguish these intentional contexts.

Two- and four-year-olds learn to adapt referring expressions to context: effects of distracters and feedback on referential communication.

Children often refer to things ambiguously but learn not to from responding to clarification requests. We review and explore this learning process here. In Study 1, eighty-four 2- and 4-year-olds were tested for their ability to request stickers from either (a) a small array with one dissimilar distracter or (b) a large array containing similar distracters. When children made ambiguous requests, they received either general feedback or specific questions about which of two options they wanted. With training, children learned to produce more complex object descriptions and did so faster in the specific feedback condition. They also tended to provide more information when requesting stickers from large arrays. In Study 2, we varied only distracter similarity during training and then varied array size in a generalization test. Children found it harder to learn in this case. In the generalization test, 4-year-olds were more likely to provide information (a) when it was needed because distracters were similar to the target and (b) when the array size was greater (regardless of need for information). We discuss how clear cues to potential ambiguity are needed for children to learn to tailor their referring expression to context and how several cues of heuristic value (e.g., more distracters > say more) can promote the efficiency of communication while language is developing. Finally, we consider whether it would be worthwhile drawing on the human learning process when developing algorithms for the production of referring expressions.

Solvochromic effects in model eumelanin compounds.

We have created an indolic compound which is ideally suited to the study of the relationship between structure and function in eumelanin formation. N-methyl-5-hydroxy-6-methoxyindole (MHMI) is stable in solid and liquid states, highly soluble in a variety of solvents and forms a dimer only through the 4-4' positions. The limited binding possibilities are due to functional groups strategically placed to inhibit chemical interactions through the 2 and 7 positions. It forms a crystal structure with a remarkable packing arrangement, with four monomers grouped in parallel pairs spaced 3.5 A apart within each unit cell. Optical spectra reveal a multi-peaked absorbance profile similar to 5,6-dihydroxyindole (DHI) and N-acetyl-tryptophanamide (NATA), and strong fluorescence emission with radiative quantum yields of 29% and 33% in benzene and acetonitrile, respectively. The quantum yield is similar to that of 5,6-dihydroxyindole-2-carboxylic acid (DHICA) and shows that solvent aromaticity by itself does not affect the yield. Solution in chloroform results in an almost complete quenching of the fluorescence but an increase in emission is observed with photoactivation. Crystallographic results shown here suggest new structural possibilities for eumelanin and the controlled binding possibilities make this an excellent model for monitoring changes in function with increasing oligomer size in eumelanin formation.

DNA replication licensing factors and aurora kinases are linked to aneuploidy and clinical outcome in epithelial ovarian carcinoma.

PURPOSE: DNA replication licensing factors and Aurora kinases play critical roles in maintaining genomic integrity. We used multiparameter analyses of these cell cycle regulatory proteins to investigate their role in the progression of epithelial ovarian carcinoma (EOC). EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: In a cohort of 143 patients, we linked the protein expression profiles of the proliferation marker Ki67, the replication licensing factors Mcm2 and geminin, and the Aurora A and B kinases to tumor DNA ploidy status and clinical outcome. RESULTS: Ki67, Mcm2, geminin, and Aurora A and B are significantly associated with tumor grade and ploidy status (P < 0.0001). Aurora A and its substrate H3S10ph are also significantly associated with Federation of International Obstetricians and Gynecologists tumor stage (P = 0.006 and P = 0.002, respectively). Aurora A and tumor ploidy status are predictive of disease-free survival in this cohort [hazard ratio (HR), 1.29; 95% confidence intervals (95% CI), 1.06-1.58, P = 0.01 and HR, 1.80 (1.05-3.08), P = 0.03, respectively], with Aurora A of particular prognostic importance in early stage disease [HR, 1.72 (1.19-2.48), P = 0.004 for disease-free survival and HR, 1.81 (1.14-2.87), P = 0.01 for overall survival]. CONCLUSIONS: Our data show that Ki67, Mcm2, geminin and Aurora A and B can be used as an adjunct to conventional prognostic indicators and as an aid to develop a tumor progression model for EOC. Dysregulation of Aurora A seems to be an early event in EOC with a key role in tumor progression. In view of present drug development programs for specific Aurora kinase inhibitors, our findings have important implications for the use of Aurora A as a biomarker and as a potential therapeutic target.