scholarly journals Sex-dimorphic role of prefrontal oxytocin receptors in social-induced facilitation of extinction in juvenile rats

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mouna Maroun ◽  
Amit Sarussi-Elyahu ◽  
Aseel Yaseen ◽  
O. A. Hatoum ◽  
Milly Kritman

AbstractWe previously reported that in the adult animal extinction in pairs resulted in enhanced extinction, showing that social presence can reduce previously acquired fear responses. Based on our findings that juvenile and adult animals differ in the mechanisms of extinction, here we address whether the social presence of a conspecific affects extinction in juvenile animals similarly to adults. We further address whether such presence has a different impact on juvenile males and females. To that end, we examined in our established experimental setting whether conditioned male and female animals extinguish contextual fear memory better while in pairs. Taking advantage of the role of oxytocin (OT) in the mediation of extinction memory and social interaction, we also study the effect of antagonizing the OT receptors (OTR) either systemically or in the prefrontal cortex on social interaction-induced effects of fear extinction. The results show that social presence accelerates extinction in males and females as compared to the single condition. Yet, we show differential and opposing effects of an OTR antagonist in both sexes. Whereas in females, the systemic application of an OTR antagonist is associated with impaired extinction, it is associated with enhanced extinction in males. In contrast, prefrontal OT is not engaged in extinction in juvenile males, while is it is critical in females. Previously reported differences in the levels of prefrontal OT between males and females might explain the differences in OT action. These results suggest that even during the juvenile period, critical mechanisms are differently involved in the regulation of fear in males and females.

Author(s):  
Marieke Thurlings ◽  
Marjan Vermeulen ◽  
Theo Bastiaens ◽  
Sjef Stijnen

<p>Feedback is essential in any kind of learning. This study focused on feedback in online learning and conceptualized feedback as a social interaction process. Online learning rests on social interaction, which is affected by feelings of social presence. Therefore, we investigated received and perceived online feedback, and the coherence between them. In addition, we studied the influence of social presence on feedback processes. Sixteen Dutch student teachers, who followed a 1 year customized postgraduate teacher education course, engaged in an online peer coaching program using Skype. Data could be collected from 8 different participants and 966 feedback utterances were analysed. In order to determine the quality of this received feedback, an observational instrument was used. In addition, questionnaires were filled in that addressed student teachers’ feedback perceptions and feelings of social presence. Findings showed that participants with higher feedback perceptions received more effective observed feedback than participants with lower perceptions. Feelings of social presence affected perceived and observed feedback, however the social presence items need further validation. This study has practical implications for providing effective online feedback as well as providing a more holistic view on the processes of feedback among teachers.</p><p> </p>


2021 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 22-41
Author(s):  
Ditha Nurul Fazrin ◽  
Iwan Sukoco

This study aims to determine the social interaction of Lazis Darul Hikam and the community through Instagram social media and to find out the role of social media Instagram in building awareness of donation in Lazis Darul Hikam. The research uses symbolic interaction theory to photograph how people interact using social media, define the meaning of the symbols conveyed and ultimately lead to actions in this case giving donations. The method used is a qualitative method, the donor Lazis Darul Hikam, an active user of Instagram, is an informant in this study. The results showed that social media has the following roles: (1) Instagram is a medium for inter-institutional interaction with the community to introduce programs and reporting media, (2) Instagram social media is also able to build awareness of donations by collecting funds obtained through social media.AbstrakPenelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui interaksi sosial Lazis Darul Hikam dan masyarakat melalui media sosial Instagram serta untuk mengetahui peran media sosial Instagram membangun kesadaran berdonasi di Lazis Darul Hikam.  Penelitian menggunakan teori interaksi simbolik untuk memotret bagaimana masyarakat berinteraksi menggunakan media sosial, mendefinisikan makna dari simbol-simbol yang disampaikan dan akhirnya bermuara pada perbuatan dalam hal ini memberikan donasi. Metode yang digunakan adalah metode kualitatif, donatur Lazis Darul Hikam pengguna aktif Instagram menjadi informan dalam penelitian ini. Hasil penelitian didapatkan bahwa media sosial memiliki peran sebagai berikut: (1) Instagram menjadi media untuk berinteraksi antar lembaga dengan masyarakat untuk memperkenalkan program dan media pelaporan, (2) Media sosial Instagram juga mampu membangun kesadaran berdonasi dengan terkumpulnya dana yang didapatkan melalui media sosial


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michiko Kaneyasu

Abstract This paper investigates multimodal strategies for balancing formality and informality online. The analysis of 300 comment-reply interactions on a recipe sharing site in Japan demonstrates that writers tend to avoid being overly formal or informal in their messages. For example, most comments and replies are written in polite forms but many incorporate some plain forms and colloquial expressions. Linguistic features, however, are not the only way through which the writers manage an appropriate level of formality and informality. The study examines the role of kaomoji or Japanese-style emoticons for socio-relational work online. Some kaomoji function locally as cues for interpreting the sentences featuring kaomoji. All kaomoji, including those with local functions, work to enhance the social presence of the writers on the screen via pictographic gaze and gestures, which increases the perception of intimate rapport. The findings underscore the importance of a multimodal perspective in examining how people handle social relationships online.


Author(s):  
Alan Ryan

This chapter describes a “dramatistic,” “dramatic,” or “dramaturgical” approach to the study of social interaction. It asks whether the dramaturgical model insists on the theatricality of social life merely in the sense of insisting that people fill roles just as persons act parts in a play. This is the question of whether the crucial element in the dramaturgical picture is that cluster of insights that goes under the general heading of “role distance.” The chapter considers the peculiarities of rational explanation and about the role of reconstructions of “the thing to do” other than the role of explaining an action or series of actions by focusing on voting behavior in the terms proposed by Anthony Downs's An Economic Theory of Democracy. It also examines some recent accounts of the phenomenon of suicide, along with the rationality principle, which Karl Popper calls “false but indispensable” to the social sciences.


2020 ◽  
Vol 223 (23) ◽  
pp. jeb226472
Author(s):  
Robin J. Southon ◽  
Andrew N. Radford ◽  
Seirian Sumner

ABSTRACTSex-biased dispersal is common in social species, but the dispersing sex may delay emigration if associated benefits are not immediately attainable. In the social Hymenoptera (ants, some bees and wasps), newly emerged males typically disperse from the natal nest whilst most females remain as philopatric helpers. However, little information exists on the mechanisms regulating male dispersal. Furthermore, the conservation of such mechanisms across the Hymenoptera and any role of sexual maturation are also relatively unknown. Through field observations and mark–recapture, we observed that males of the social paper wasp Polistes lanio emerge from pupation sexually immature, and delay dispersal from their natal nest for up to 7 days whilst undergoing sexual maturation. Delayed dispersal may benefit males by allowing them to mature in the safety of the nest and thus be more competitive in mating. We also demonstrate that both male dispersal and maturation are associated with juvenile hormone (JH), a key regulator of insect reproductive physiology and behaviour, which also has derived functions regulating social organisation in female Hymenoptera. Males treated with methoprene (a JH analogue) dispersed earlier and possessed significantly larger accessory glands than their age-matched controls. These results highlight the wide role of JH in social hymenopteran behaviour, with parallel ancestral functions in males and females, and raise new questions on the nature of selection for sex-biased dispersal.


2012 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 147470491201000 ◽  
Author(s):  
Albrecht I. Schulte-Hostedde ◽  
Mark A. Eys ◽  
Michael Emond ◽  
Michael Buzdon

Sport provides a context in which mate choice can be facilitated by the display of athletic prowess. Previous work has shown that, for females, team sport athletes are more desirable as mates than individual sport athletes and non-participants. In the present study, the perceptions of males and females were examined regarding potential mates based on sport participation. It was predicted that team sport athletes would be more positively perceived than individual sport athletes and non-participants by both males and females. A questionnaire, a photograph, and manipulated descriptions were used to gauge perceptual differences with respect to team sport athletes, individual sport athletes, and extracurricular club participants for 125 females and 119 males from a Canadian university. Both team and individual sport athletes were perceived as being less lazy, more competitive, and healthier than non-participants by both males and females. Interestingly, females perceived male athletes as more promiscuous than non-athletes, which upholds predictions based on previous research indicating (a) athletes have more sexual partners than non-athletes, and (b) females find athletes more desirable as partners than non-participants. Surprisingly, only males perceived female team sport athletes as more dependable than non-participants, and both team and individual sport athletes as more ambitious. This raises questions regarding the initial hypothesis that male team athletes would be perceived positively by females because of qualities such as the ability to cooperate, likeability, and the acceptance of responsibilities necessary for group functioning. Future studies should examine similar questions with a larger sample size that encompasses multiple contexts, taking into account the role of the social profile of sport in relation to mate choice and perception.


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