More examples of chimpanzees teaching.

Darwinism is a principle of biological continuity. This commentary argues against any claim of discontinuity between humans and other animals that must be based on absence of evidence. Instead, we offer additional examples of active teaching by chimpanzees.

Sugar ingestion and dichotic listening: Increased perceptual capacity is more than motivation.

Participants ingested a sugar drink or a sugar-free drink and then engaged in a pair of dichotic listening tasks. Tasks presented category labels then played a series of word pairs, one in the left ear and one in the right. Participants attempted to identify pairs containing a target category member. Target category words were homonyms. For example, arms appeared as a target in the "body parts" category. Nontargets that played along with targets were related to a category-appropriate version of the target (e.g., sleeves), a category-inappropriate version (e.g., weapons), or were unrelated to either version of the target (e.g., plant). Hence, an effect of nontarget type on number of targets missed was evidence that participants processed nontargets for meaning. In the divided attention task, participants monitored both ears. In the focused attention task, participants monitored the left ear. Half the participants in each group had the divided attention task before the focused attention task; the other half had the focused attention task before the divided attention task. We set task lengths to about 12 min so working on the first task would give sufficient time for metabolizing sugar from the drink before the start of the second task. Nontarget word type significantly affected targets missed in both tasks. Drink type affected performance in the divided attention task only after sufficient time for converting sugar into blood glucose. The result supports an energy model for the effect of sugar ingestion on perceptual tasks rather than a motivational model.

Longitudinal integration of cultural components into a physician assistant program's clinical year may improve cultural competency.

PURPOSE: This study assessed the efficacy of longitudinal integration of cultural components into the clinical year of a 2-year master of science in physician assistant studies (MSPAS) program. METHODS: Students submitted cultural reflection papers, gave a medical case/cultural presentation, and participated in cultural awareness discussion groups throughout the clinical year. Students completed the same cultural awareness survey at the conclusion of their clinical year that they had completed at benchmarked intervals during their didactic year. Additionally, cultural competency was assessed during the students' summative objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) using a combination of the program's objectives and established professional standards. RESULTS: Qualitative data suggested that students recognized the importance of cultural competency in providing quality patient care and recognized that remaining culturally competent is an ongoing process. Linear trend analyses revealed significant positive relationships between survey response scores and time in the program. The OSCE's cultural assessment scores indicated cultural competency in broad, general categories, but scores declined as cultural categories narrowed and became more detailed. CONCLUSION: Continued integration of cultural awareness training and assessment throughout the clinical year of a physician assistant (PA) program may have a positive impact on improving cultural competency. PA programs seeking to improve cultural competency in their students should consider continued integration of cultural components throughout the clinical year.

Cultural competency in a physician assistant curriculum in the United States: a longitudinal study with two cohorts.

PURPOSE: Many physician assistant (PA) programs have recently integrated cultural competency into their curricula. However, there is little evidence of the longitudinal effectiveness of such curricula on culture competency. This study tested whether the amount of exposure to a cultural competency curriculum affected self-assessments of cultural awareness in two cohorts of students. METHOD: Cohort 1 and Cohort 2 students completed a cultural awareness survey at the beginning of the program and retook the survey at three intervals during the first year. RESULTS: Regression analyses confirmed a significant linear relationship (two-tailed 0.05) between the responses and the interval number on all questions for each cohort, with the exception of Question 8, on the ability to identify discrimination, for Cohort 2. CONCLUSION: Results from Cohort 2 replicated those from Cohort 1, suggesting that cultural awareness among PA students benefits from repeated exposure to lessons on cultural competency. Schools attempting to develop or expand cultural awareness among students should consider integrating cultural competency training throughout the PA curriculum.

Integrating cultural competency throughout a first-year physician assistant curriculum steadily improves cultural awareness.

PURPOSE: This study tracked student self-assessments of cultural awareness at regular intervals during the first year of a master's of science physician assistant (PA) program to test effectiveness of a cultural competency component in the curriculum. METHOD: Students completed a cultural awareness survey at the beginning of the program and retook the survey at approximately 4-month intervals throughout the first year. RESULTS: Regression analyses confirmed positive linear relationships between survey number and score on 31 of 31 items. CONCLUSION: Cultural awareness among PA students benefits from repeated exposures to lessons on cultural competency. Schools attempting to develop or expand cultural awareness among students should consider presenting material in multiple courses across terms.

Captive spider monkeys (Ateles geoffroyi) arm-raise to solicit allo-grooming.

Old World monkeys solicit allo-grooming from conspecifics. However, there are relatively few studies of allo-grooming among spider monkeys, and descriptions of allo-grooming solicitation among spider monkeys are anecdotal. In this study, eighty-one hours of video, shot over eight weeks, captured 271 allo-grooming bouts among small groups of captive spider monkeys. Six of eight monkeys made heretofore unreported arm-raises that solicited higher than normal rates of allo-grooming. Allo-grooming bout durations following arm-raises also tended to be longer than bouts not preceded by arm-raises. The efficacy of the arm-raise at soliciting allo-grooming suggests spider monkeys are capable of intentional communication.

Pygmalion in the laboratory.

Testers and bystanders can inadvertently lead subjects to answers in laboratories and in classrooms, in face-to-face tests of human beings and other animals. Many modern investigators avoid leading by using blind tests scrupulously. This article shows how to design blind tests and illustrates common methodological errors that allow leading to confound experimental results. The object is to help experimenters, editors, and readers detect and avoid a common experimental error that often has profound theoretical implications.

Resource depletion promotes automatic processing: implications for distribution of practice.

Recent models of cognition include two processing systems: an automatic system that relies on associative learning, intuition, and heuristics, and a controlled system that relies on deliberate consideration. Automatic processing requires fewer resources and is more likely when resources are depleted. This study showed that prolonged practice on a resource-depleting mental arithmetic task promoted automatic processing on a subsequent problem-solving task, as evidenced by faster responding and more errors. Distribution of practice effects (0, 60, 120, or 180 sec. between problems) on rigidity also disappeared when groups had equal time on resource-depleting tasks. These results suggest that distribution of practice effects is reducible to resource availability. The discussion includes implications for interpreting discrepancies in the traditional distribution of practice effect.