This research investigated the relation between racial categorization and implicit racial bias in majority and minority children. Chinese and Indian 3‐ to 7‐year‐olds from Singapore (N = 158) ...categorized Chinese and Indian faces by race and had their implicit and explicit racial biases measured. Majority Chinese children, but not minority Indian children, showed implicit bias favoring own race. Regardless of ethnicity, children's racial categorization performance correlated positively with implicit racial bias. Also, Chinese children, but not Indian children, displayed explicit bias favoring own race. Furthermore, children's explicit bias was unrelated to racial categorization performance and implicit bias. The findings support a perceptual–social linkage in the emergence of implicit racial bias and have implications for designing programs to promote interracial harmony.
The present study investigated the development of racial categorization and explicit racial biases in Singaporean Chinese preschoolers (N = 73). Three- to six-year-olds were found to be generally ...adept at categorizing novel faces by race and displayed significant improvements in their racial categorization abilities at six years old. Additionally, the strength of children's racial preferences varied along the developmental trajectory. While three- and four-year-olds did not exhibit own-race preferences, five- and six-year-olds preferred to befriend own-race children and preferentially assigned desirable jobs to own-race adults. None of the age groups, however, displayed preferences for either race when assigning undesirable jobs to adults, pointing to an absence of negative outgroup bias from three to six years old. Lastly, children who were better able to categorize novel faces by race also showed stronger tendencies to assign undesirable jobs to other-race adults and thus stronger outgroup negativity. Together, our findings suggest that ingroup positivity precedes outgroup negativity, and that racial categorization plays an important role in the development of negative outgroup bias, hence providing further support for developmental theories on intergroup bias formation.
Developmental research in the past decade has painted the picture of a gregarious child ready to engage in a range of prosocial behavior, but less is known about the situational factors that moderate ...this behavior. The present study investigated the effects of cost and familiarity on children's readiness to help the victim of a moral transgression. Opportunity cost was operationalized as the time and effort expended on providing help, that could otherwise be used to earn a reward from a productive task. Familiarity varied as a function of whether there was prior contact between the child and victim. Five- and six-year-olds in Singapore (N = 120) witnessed an adult transgressor destroy the victim's tower of blocks, responded to the victim's pleas for help in rebuilding her tower, and shared resources with both actresses. Contrary to our initial predictions, children helped a familiar victim less when cost was high as opposed to low, but helped an unfamiliar victim equally regardless of cost. Additionally, helping rates were low (30–60%) except in the least prohibitive condition (> 80%; Low-Cost, Familiar Victim), stemming from a combination of not having a productive task to occupy one's time and energy, and simultaneously a familiar target which increased one's intrinsic motivation to help. The conditional limits imposed on children's decision to help thus appear to be, “I'll help, if I know you and have nothing better to do!” In terms of resource sharing, children behaved selfishly toward both the victim and transgressor regardless of their familiarity with the victim. Altogether, our findings suggest that children consider self-interest when deciding whether to help and share with others.
Evolutionary medicine may provide insights into human physiology and pathophysiology, including tumor biology.
To identify mechanisms for cancer resistance in elephants and compare cellular response ...to DNA damage among elephants, healthy human controls, and cancer-prone patients with Li-Fraumeni syndrome (LFS).
A comprehensive survey of necropsy data was performed across 36 mammalian species to validate cancer resistance in large and long-lived organisms, including elephants (n = 644). The African and Asian elephant genomes were analyzed for potential mechanisms of cancer resistance. Peripheral blood lymphocytes from elephants, healthy human controls, and patients with LFS were tested in vitro in the laboratory for DNA damage response. The study included African and Asian elephants (n = 8), patients with LFS (n = 10), and age-matched human controls (n = 11). Human samples were collected at the University of Utah between June 2014 and July 2015.
Ionizing radiation and doxorubicin.
Cancer mortality across species was calculated and compared by body size and life span. The elephant genome was investigated for alterations in cancer-related genes. DNA repair and apoptosis were compared in elephant vs human peripheral blood lymphocytes.
Across mammals, cancer mortality did not increase with body size and/or maximum life span (eg, for rock hyrax, 1% 95% CI, 0%-5%; African wild dog, 8% 95% CI, 0%-16%; lion, 2% 95% CI, 0%-7%). Despite their large body size and long life span, elephants remain cancer resistant, with an estimated cancer mortality of 4.81% (95% CI, 3.14%-6.49%), compared with humans, who have 11% to 25% cancer mortality. While humans have 1 copy (2 alleles) of TP53, African elephants have at least 20 copies (40 alleles), including 19 retrogenes (38 alleles) with evidence of transcriptional activity measured by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction. In response to DNA damage, elephant lymphocytes underwent p53-mediated apoptosis at higher rates than human lymphocytes proportional to TP53 status (ionizing radiation exposure: patients with LFS, 2.71% 95% CI, 1.93%-3.48% vs human controls, 7.17% 95% CI, 5.91%-8.44% vs elephants, 14.64% 95% CI, 10.91%-18.37%; P < .001; doxorubicin exposure: human controls, 8.10% 95% CI, 6.55%-9.66% vs elephants, 24.77% 95% CI, 23.0%-26.53%; P < .001).
Compared with other mammalian species, elephants appeared to have a lower-than-expected rate of cancer, potentially related to multiple copies of TP53. Compared with human cells, elephant cells demonstrated increased apoptotic response following DNA damage. These findings, if replicated, could represent an evolutionary-based approach for understanding mechanisms related to cancer suppression.
Abnormalities in circadian rhythms have been reported in people with mood disorders, but these abnormalities are marked by considerable inter-individual variability. This study aimed to identify ...pathophysiological subgroups on the basis of circadian markers and evaluate how these subgroups relate to psychiatric profiles. Thirty-five young adults (18-31 years old) receiving clinical care for unipolar depressive disorders and 15 healthy controls took part to this study. The Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression and the Young Mania rating scale were used to evaluate the severity of mood symptoms in participants with depressive disorders. All participant underwent ambulatory sleep monitoring with actigraphy for about 12 days before attending a laboratory-based chronobiological assessment which included repeated salivary samples to determine dim light melatonin onset (DLMO) and continuous core body temperature (CBT) monitoring using an ingestible temperature sensor. Cluster analyses were conducted across all participants to identify subgroups with consistent circadian timing profiles based on DLMO and the nocturnal minima of CBT. Two clusters were identified: 'delayed' and 'conventional timing' circadian phase. Descriptive analyses showed that the delayed cluster was characterised by abnormal time relationships between circadian phase markers and the sleep-wake cycle. Importantly, individuals from the delayed cluster had worse depression severity (t(28) = -2.7, p = 0.011) and hypomanic symptoms (Z = -2.2, p = 0.041) than their peers with conventional circadian timing. These findings suggest that delayed and disorganised circadian rhythms may be linked to worse psychiatric profiles in young people with depressive disorders.
Aim
University students have high rates of mental health problems; however, most delay or fail to seek help altogether. Tertiary settings can offer educational and social programmes to increase ...mental health awareness and in turn increase the number of students seeking help for their problems. This study aimed to explore students' and staffs' knowledge of mental health issues, confidence to intervene and application of skills following Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) training.
Methods
Students and staff at an Australian university who had completed MHFA training in the previous 24 months were invited to complete a validated online questionnaire.
Results
Of the 566 eligible participants, 107 (19%) completed the questionnaire. The majority (65%) had applied their skills to someone in need, with the highest number applying it to students. Notably, of those who had applied their skills 23 participants (33%) had applied them in a crisis situation, the most common being panic attacks followed by suicidal thoughts. Although most (98%) applied their skills in a face‐to‐face capacity, 53% also reported assisting someone via electronic mediums and social media. The mean score for the literacy test was considered high, 12/16 (SD = 1.7) for students and 13/16 (SD = 2.5) for staff. The majority (94%) reported more confidence in providing support following training.
Conclusion
This study demonstrated that MHFA training on a university campus is associated with a high level of knowledge, confidence to intervene and apply MHFA skills to assist a student or friend in need, potentially impacting their long‐term health outcomes and future professional careers.
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