Altruistic food sharing behavior by human infants after a hunger manipulation

The proximate regulation of prosocial behaviour: towards a conceptual framework for comparative research

Humans and many other animal species act in ways that benefit others. Such prosocial behaviour has been studied extensively across a range of disciplines over the last decades, but findings to date have led to conflicting conclusions about prosociality across and even within species. Here, we present a conceptual framework to study the proximate regulation of prosocial behaviour in humans, non-human primates and potentially other animals. We build on psychological definitions of prosociality and spell out three key features that need to be in place for behaviour to count as prosocial: benefitting others, intentionality, and voluntariness. We then apply this framework to review observational and experimental studies on sharing behaviour and targeted helping in human children and non-human primates. We show that behaviours that are usually subsumed under the same terminology (e.g. helping) can differ substantially across and within species and that some of them do not fulfil our criteria for prosociality. Our framework allows for precise mapping of prosocial behaviours when retrospectively evaluating studies and offers guidelines for future comparative work.

Ultra-processed foods in a rural Ecuadorian community: associations with child anthropometry and bone maturation

Frequent ultra-processed food (UPF) consumption is consistently associated with poor health outcomes. Little is known about UPF intake during early childhood and its effects on growth. We assessed UPF in relation to child anthropometry, bone maturation, and their nutrition profiles in a rural Ecuadorian community. Covariate-adjusted regression models estimated relationships between UPF intake from a 24-hour Food Frequency Questionnaire and three outcomes: linear growth, weight status and bone maturation. Nutrient Profiling Models (NPM) evaluated a convenience sample of UPF (n 28) consumed by children in the community. In this cohort (n 125; mean age = 33·92 (sd 1·75) months), 92·8 % consumed some form of UPF the previous day. On average, children consuming UPF four to twelve times per day (highest tertile) had lower height-for-age z-scores than those with none or a single instance of UPF intake (lowest tertile) (β = -0·43 [se 0·18]; P = 0·02). Adjusted stunting odds were significantly higher in the highest tertile relative to the lowest tertile (OR: 3·07, 95 % CI 1·11, 9·09). Children in the highest tertile had significantly higher bone age z-scores (BAZ) on average compared with the lowest tertile (β = 0·58 [se 0·25]; P = 0·03). Intake of savoury UPF was negatively associated with weight-for-height z-scores (β = -0·30 [se 0·14]; P = 0·04) but positively associated with BAZ (β = 0·77 [se 0·23]; P < 0·001). NPM indicated the availability of unhealthy UPF to children, with excessive amounts of saturated fats, free sugars and sodium. Findings suggest that frequent UPF intake during early childhood may be linked to stunted growth (after controlling for bone age and additional covariates), despite paradoxical associations with bone maturation.

Comparative physiological anthropogeny: exploring molecular underpinnings of distinctly human phenotypes

Anthropogeny is a classic term encompassing transdisciplinary investigations of the origins of the human species. Comparative anthropogeny is a systematic comparison of humans and other living nonhuman hominids (so-called "great apes"), aiming to identify distinctly human features in health and disease, with the overall goal of explaining human origins. We begin with a historical perspective, briefly describing how the field progressed from the earliest evolutionary insights to the current emphasis on in-depth molecular and genomic investigations of "human-specific" biology and an increased appreciation for cultural impacts on human biology. While many such genetic differences between humans and other hominids have been revealed over the last two decades, this information remains insufficient to explain the most distinctive phenotypic traits distinguishing humans from other living hominids. Here we undertake a complementary approach of "comparative physiological anthropogeny," along the lines of the preclinical medical curriculum, i.e., beginning with anatomy and considering each physiological system and in each case considering genetic and molecular components that are relevant. What is ultimately needed is a systematic comparative approach at all levels from molecular to physiological to sociocultural, building networks of related information, drawing inferences, and generating testable hypotheses. The concluding section will touch on distinctive considerations in the study of human evolution, including the importance of gene-culture interactions.

Sharing food with infants in Hadza communities in Tanzania

By analyzing mealtime interactions of Tanzanian Hadza infants with their interactional partners, we explored how two foundational schemas, namely giving/sharing and autonomy are realized and fostered in infants. We focused on three aspects of the mealtime interactions, namely how the infants' share was protected, whether independent eating was fostered by the infants' interactional partners, and how infants were encouraged to share food. To answer these questions, we also considered the settings that were created for infant eating, persons involved, and characteristics of the foods. Hadza infants (N = 24) between the ages of approximately 6 and 27 months were video recorded in mealtime situations. The videos were analyzed qualitatively and revealed the following patterns: First, infants' shares were protected by eating meals in secluded places or providing infants with separate dishes. Second, independent eating was situational. It can be limited according to the child's interest in the food or by the interactional partner. Some caregivers subtly enhanced independence by appearing unaware of infants' signals. Third, sharing was encouraged and supported when it occurred spontaneously. Infants were also asked to share and occasionally tricked into sharing. Tolerated scrounging seemed to be generally accepted by both infants and caregivers. However, we also observed conflicts in competitive situations and somewhat overwhelmed infants. These results are discussed in light of hunter-gatherers' foundational schemas and livelihood changes observed in the Hadza.

Variations in limited resources allocation towards friends and strangers in children and adolescents from seven economically and culturally diverse societies

Humans are unique among primates in altruism and sharing limited recourses towards non-kin. Our study revealed the differences in proportions of individuals ready to share limited resources with virtual friend compared to virtual stranger in children and adolescents from seven ethnic groups, represented by four traditional rural African societies from Tanzania with different types of economy and three societies from Russia. The study was conducted between 2015 and 2020, and the data on 2253 individuals (1104 males and 1149 females) were obtained. Six economic games with limited resource allocations were conducted: Prosocial, Envy, and Sharing games with imagined friends and stranger partners accordingly. All players were later classified according to their decisions in all six games into four behavioral types: egoistic, egalitarian, altruistic, and mixed. The effects of population origin, gender, age, and stranger/friend type of interaction on the behavior were estimated by multinomial logistic regression. It was demonstrated that more respondents prefer altruistic and egalitarian behavior than egoistic and mixed in the whole sample. However, significant parochial effect was found. The study revealed significant main effects of ethnicity, age, and the interaction effects of ethnicity and parochial tendencies, and ethnicity and age on the behavior of players.

Toward a More Comprehensive Understanding of Pathogenic Beliefs: Theory and Clinical Implications

According to Control-Mastery Theory, an integrative cognitive-dynamic theory of mental functioning, psychopathology, and psychotherapy process, functional psychopathology derives from pathogenic beliefs. Pathogenic beliefs associates a healthy and adaptive goal to a danger, are generally developed during the developmental period to adapt to traumas and are unconsciously tested by patients in psychotherapy to be disproved. We propose the existence of pathogenic beliefs that are mainly encoded as bodily tensions, sensations, emotions, intensions, mental images and expectations, and only secondarily or not at all as words. These non-verbal pathogenic beliefs painfully affect patients’ bodily states, emotions and behaviours without the patients being able to understand the reasons of their own sensations, reactions and actions. In order to disprove these non-verbal pathogenic beliefs in therapy, it is not enough that clinician help their patients make them explicit; clinicians have also to adapt their overall attitude, non-verbal and paraverbal communications, and to adjust the setting, the nuances and the “atmosphere” of the therapeutic relationship according to the specific developmental traumas that gave rise to these beliefs, the goals thwarted by them and to how the patient test them. The disconfirmation of pre-verbal pathogenic beliefs may also be facilitated by psychotherapy techniques that address the problems of patients on a bodily level. In order to disprove preverbal pathogenic beliefs, an embodied corrective emotional experience is needed.

Give and take: A microgenetic study of preschoolers' deceptive and prosocial behavior in relation to their socio-cognitive development

Early on, young children begin to learn the social skills which will help them navigate through an increasingly complex social world. We explored how deceiving for personal gain potentially interacts with sharing the resulting resources and how they both relate to theory of mind (ToM) and inhibitory control in 3- to 5-year-old children (N = 92, 43 girls). Children played a hide-and-seek zero-sum game in which they could win stickers if they discovered how to deceive the experimenter. Then they were prompted to share their stickers in a dictator game paradigm. Using a microgenetic design, we tracked deceptive behavior across ten sessions and sharing behavior across five of these sessions, plus a follow-up session 15 months later. Children polarized into a group who never deceived across all sessions, and a group who constantly deceived above chance levels (around 85 % of the time). Sharing behavior was extremely low (under 6 % of stickers) across the sessions. At follow-up, deceptive behavior was above 80 %, while sharing remained at a low level (under 5 %). The novelty of our findings was that children who initially discovered how to deceive shared less than the children who didn't use this deceptive strategy. Nonetheless, this pattern was reversed at follow-up. Furthermore, ToM positively predicted deceptive behavior across all sessions and improved after the microgenetic sessions but wasn't related with deception at follow-up. Implications for enabling children to deploy the growing understanding of their worlds in a more prosocial way are discussed.

Deep Learning Based Dual Channel Banana Grading System Using Convolution Neural Network

Deep learning has recently been hailed as the most advanced computer vision technology for image classification. The invention of convolutional neural network (CNN) simplified the effort of feature engineering. Classification of various stages of fruit maturity using machine learning algorithms is a difficult task since it is difficult to distinguish the visual features of the fruits at different maturity stages. Fruit ripeness is critical in agriculture since it impacts the quality of the fruit. Manually determining the maturity of the fruit has various flaws, including the fact that it takes a long time, needs a lot of labor, and can lead to inconsistencies. In developing countries, agriculture is one of the most important economic sectors. Created system can be employed in the food processing business, in real-life applications where the intelligent system’s accuracy, cost, and speed will improve the production rate and allow satisfying consumer demand. With small number of image samples, the system is capable of automating assembly line related work for classifying bananas along with sufficient overall accuracy. The noninvasive method will also be used to classify other clustered fruits or horticultural crops in the future. The system can either replace or aid human operators who can focus their efforts on fruit selection. The combined merits of RGB and HSI (hyperspectral imaging) for classification of bananas were highlighted in the present study; they have possible application as a model for classification of several types of horticultural produce. The multi-input model’s quick processing time can be a useful and handy technique in the farm field during postharvest procedures. Via a combination of CNN and MLP applied to data collected using RGB and hyperspectral imaging, the multi-input model reliably recognizes bananas with an accuracy level of 98.4 percent as well as an F1-score of 0.97. The AI algorithm predicted the size (large, medium, and microscopic) and perspective (front or rear half) of banana classes with 99 percent accuracy. In comparison to previous studies that simply employed RGB imaging, the presented model revealed the value of integrating RGB imaging and HSI approaches.

Why stress and hunger both increase and decrease prosocial behaviour

Humans are regularly in suboptimal psychophysiological states like stressed or hungry. Previous research has made both claims that such impairments should decrease and that they should increase prosocial behaviour. We describe the overarching theoretical reasoning underlying these opposing predictions. Then we discuss empirical research on the two impairments most frequently studied, acute stress and acute hunger, and we find that neither alters prosocial behaviour clearly in one direction. We argue that this is because even under impairments, humans react flexibly to the incentive structure of the specific social situation they are in. Hence, either prosocial or egoistic tendencies get expressed, depending on which strategy can lead to fulfilment of the need the impairment triggered.

Human infants can override possessive tendencies to share valued items with others

Possessiveness toward objects and sharing are competing tendencies that influence dyadic and group interactions within the primate lineage. A distinctive form of sharing in adult Homo sapiens involves active giving of high-valued possessions to others, without an immediate reciprocal benefit. In two Experiments with 19-month-old human infants (N = 96), we found that despite measurable possessive behavior toward their own personal objects (favorite toy, bottle), infants spontaneously gave these items to a begging stranger. Moreover, human infants exhibited this behavior across different types of objects that are relevant to theory (personal objects, sweet food, and common objects)-showing flexible generalizability not evidenced in non-human primates. We combined these data with a previous dataset, yielding a large sample of infants (N = 192), and identified sociocultural factors that may calibrate young infants' sharing of objects with others. The current findings show a proclivity that is rare or absent in our closest living relatives-the capacity to override possessive behavior toward personally valued objects by sharing those same desired objects with others.

Identifying with all humanity predicts cooperative health behaviors and helpful responding during COVID-19

In the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, public health experts have produced guidelines to limit the spread of the coronavirus, but individuals do not always comply with experts' recommendations. Here, we tested whether a specific psychological belief-identification with all humanity-predicts cooperation with public health guidelines as well as helpful behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic. We hypothesized that peoples' endorsement of this belief-their relative perception of a connection and moral commitment to other humans-would predict their tendencies to adopt World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines and to help others. To assess this, we conducted a global online study (N = 2537 participants) of four WHO-recommended health behaviors and four pandemic-related moral dilemmas that we constructed to be relevant to helping others at a potential cost to oneself. We used generalized linear mixed models (GLMM) that included 10 predictor variables (demographic, contextual, and psychological) for each of five outcome measures (a WHO cooperative health behavior score, plus responses to each of our four moral, helping dilemmas). Identification with all humanity was the most consistent and consequential predictor of individuals' cooperative health behavior and helpful responding. Analyses showed that the identification with all humanity significantly predicted each of the five outcomes while controlling for the other variables (Prange < 10-22 to < 0.009). The mean effect size of the identification with all humanity predictor on these outcomes was more than twice as large as the effect sizes of other predictors. Identification with all humanity is a psychological construct that, through targeted interventions, may help scientists and policymakers to better understand and promote cooperative health behavior and help-oriented concern for others during the current pandemic as well as in future humanitarian crises.

Looking for Commensality: On Culture, Health, Heritage, and the Mediterranean Diet

The concept of the Mediterranean Diet has substantially evolved in the last decade and a half. From a model focused uniquely on nutrition and public health, in recent years, and after its registration as Intangible Heritage of the Humanity by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), its conception incorporated important elements related to society, culture, and sustainability. In this regard, the use of concepts such as commensality (or conviviality around food, or eating together), linked to a more cultural vision of food, began to be one object of attention. The aim of this article is to reflect on the role of these “new” elements regarding the actual definitions of the Mediterranean diet and, particularly, its relationship with other significant discourses inside this concept, as the preponderant of health, or the emergence of sustainability.

The Agro-Meteorological Caused Famines as an Evolutionary Factor in the Formation of Civilisation and History: Representative Cases in Europe

Throughout history, food adequacy has been one of the most critical parameters for the survival of human societies. The prevailing atmospheric conditions have always been recognised as the primary and most uncontrolled factors that determine crop production, both quantitatively and qualitatively. However, this is only a part of the effects chain. In order to assess the magnitude of the potential cultural impacts of weather changes in a region, it is crucial to comprehend the underlying mechanism of successive consequences that relate the proximate causes, which in our case are the adverse Agro-Meteorological Conditions (AMC), to their effects on society. The present study focuses on the analysis of the impacts’ mechanism on human societies. Moreover, several characteristic agro-meteorological events that have led to significant changes in European civilisation are presented as case studies. The results highlight the linkage between weather and its impact on history evolution based on Agro-Meteorological Famine (AMF). The proposed concept and its analysis by the schematic presentation are in corroboration with the documented historical events of European history. Moreover, the presented connections between weather, agricultural production, and society revealed the significant contribution of the short-term adverse weather conditions on the mechanism of the human civilisation evolution.

Enhancing same-gender imitation by highlighting gender norms in Chinese pre-school children

Children selectively imitate in-group over outgroup individuals under certain experimental conditions. We investigated whether this bias applies to gender in-groups in China. Three- and five-year-olds were shown how to operate novel objects by same-gender and opposite-gender models. Results indicate that the combination of verbally highlighting the gender identity of the model (e.g., 'I am a girl') and making gender norms explicit (e.g., 'girls play this way') significantly enhances high-fidelity imitation. This 'double social effect' was more robust in 5-year-olds than 3-year-olds. Our results underscore how language about gender and the norms for gender-based groups influence behavioural imitation. The pattern of findings enhances our knowledge about pre-schoolers' social learning and imitation as well as the powerful influence of language and group norms on children's voluntary actions and learning.

Importance of body representations in social-cognitive development: New insights from infant brain science

There is significant interest in the ways the human body, both one's own and that of others, is represented in the human brain. In this chapter we focus on body representations in infancy and synthesize relevant findings from both infant cognitive neuroscience and behavioral experiments. We review six experiments in infant neuroscience that have used novel EEG and MEG methods to explore infant neural body maps. We then consider results from behavioral studies of social imitation and examine what they contribute to our understanding of infant body representations at a psychological level. Finally, we interweave both neuroscience and behavioral lines of research to ground new theoretical claims about early infant social cognition. We propose, based on the evidence, that young infants can represent the bodily acts of others and their own bodily acts in commensurate terms. Infants initially recognize correspondences between self and other-they perceive that others are "like me" in terms of bodies and bodily actions. This capacity for registering and using self-other equivalence mappings has far-reaching implications for mechanisms of developmental change. Infants can learn about the affordances and powers of their own body by watching adults' actions and their causal consequences. Reciprocally, infants can enrich their understanding of other people's internal states by taking into account the way they themselves feel when they perform similar acts. The faces, bodies, and matching actions of people are imbued with unique meaning because they can be mapped to the infant's own body and behavior.

Imitation in Chinese Preschool Children: Influence of Prior Self-Experience and Pedagogical Cues on the Imitation of Novel Acts in a Non-Western Culture

Both prior experience and pedagogical cues modulate Western children’s imitation. However, these factors have not been systematically explored together within a single study. This paper explored how these factors individually and together influence imitation using 4-year-old children born and reared in mainland China (N = 210)—a country that contains almost one-fifth of the world’s population, and in which childhood imitation is under-studied using experimental methodology. The behavior of children in this culture is of special interest to theory because traditional East Asian culture places high value on conformity and fitting in with the group. Thus, high-fidelity imitation is emphasized in the local culture. This value, practice, or norm may be recognized by children at a young age and influence their imitative performance. In this study, we crossed prior self-experience and pedagogical cues, yielding four demonstration groups in addition to a control group. This design allowed us to investigate the degree to which Chinese preschoolers’ imitation was modulated by the two experimental factors. High-fidelity imitation was significantly modulated by prior self-experience but not by pedagogical cues, as measured by the number of novel acts imitated and also the serial order of these acts. This study (i) expands our understanding of factors that modulate imitation of novel behaviors in preschoolers and (ii) contributes to efforts to broaden research beyond Western societies to enrich our theories, particularly regarding social learning and imitation. Imitation is a key mechanism in the acquisition of culturally appropriate behaviors, mannerisms, and norms but who, what, and when children imitate is malleable. This study points to both cross-cultural invariants and variations to provide a fuller picture of the scope and functions of childhood imitation.