Fear Of Novelty Research Articles

Background predation risk induces anxiety-like behaviour and predator neophobia in zebrafish

Prey face a major challenge in balancing predator avoidance with other essential activities. In environments with high risk, prey may exhibit neophobia (fear of novelty) due to the increased likelihood of novel stimuli being dangerous. The zebrafish, Danio rerio, is an established model organism for many scientific studies. Although spatial and object neophobia in zebrafish have received previous attention, little is known about the role of background risk in inducing neophobia in zebrafish. Here, we present two experiments using zebrafish to explore whether background predation risk can induce anxiety-like behaviour in a novel environment and neophobic responses when exposed to a novel odour. Over five days, we repeatedly exposed zebrafish to either high background risk in the form of chemical alarm cues (i.e., injured conspecific cues that indicate a predator attack) or a low-risk water control stimulus. In Experiment 1, when tested in a novel tank, zebrafish exposed to high predation risk displayed anxiety-like responses (reduced activity and increased bottom time spent) compared to their low-risk counterparts. Moreover, high-risk individuals showed reduced intra-session habituation to the novel tank compared to low-risk individuals. In Experiment 2, high-risk individuals exhibited fear responses toward a novel odour, unlike low-risk individuals. These results reveal that short-term repeated exposures to high risk can induce anxiety-like behaviour and predator odour neophobia in zebrafish.

Early human contact and housing for pigs − part 1: responses to humans, novelty and isolation

The development of fear and stress responses in animals can be influenced by early life experiences, including interactions with humans, maternal care, and the physical surroundings. This paper is the first of three reporting on a large experiment examining the effects of the early housing environment and early positive human contact on stress resilience in pigs. This first paper reports on the responses of pigs to humans, novelty, and social isolation. Using a 2 × 2 factorial design, 48 litters of pigs were reared in either a conventional farrowing crate (FC) where the sow was confined or a loose farrowing pen (LP; PigSAFE pen) which was larger, more physically complex and allowed the sow to move freely throughout the farrowing and lactation period. Piglets were provided with either routine contact from stockpeople (C), or routine contact plus regular opportunities for positive human contact (+HC) involving 5 min of scratching, patting and stroking imposed to the litter 5 days/week from 0–4 weeks of age. The positive handling treatment was highly effective in reducing piglets’ fear of humans, based on +HC piglets showing greater approach and less avoidance of an unfamiliar person at 3 weeks of age. There was evidence that this reduction in fear of humans lasted well beyond when the treatment was applied (lactation), with +HC pigs showing greater approach and less avoidance of humans in tests at 6, 9 and 14 weeks of age. The +HC treatment also reduced piglets’ fear of a novel object at 3 weeks of age, and for pigs in FC, the cortisol response after social isolation at 7 weeks of age. Rearing in FC compared to LP reduced piglets’ fear of novelty at 3 weeks of age, as well as their vocalisations and cortisol response to isolation at 7 weeks of age. The FC pigs showed greater approach and less avoidance of humans compared to LP pigs at 3, 4 and 6 weeks of age, but not at 9 and 14 weeks of age. These results show that positive handling early in life can reduce pigs’ fear of humans, fear of novelty and physiological stress response to social isolation. The LP pigs were reared in a more isolated environment with less overall contact with stockpeople and other pigs, which may have increased their fear responses to humans and novel situations, suggesting that different housing systems can modulate these pigs’ responses.

Understanding feline feelings: An investigation of cat owners’ perceptions of problematic cat behaviors

Undesirable feline behaviors can detrimentally effects on the human-cat relationship, owner satisfaction, and animal welfare. This study explored cat owners’ perceptions of cat behavior and identified specific behaviors that owners found problematic. Cat owners voluntarily completed an online survey about their cat’s behavior (Fe-BARQ) between January 2016 and December 2022 (n = 4941). We examined owners’ perceptions of their cats’ behavior problems on an ordinal scale (no problems, minor problems, moderate to serious problems) relative to cat age, sex, neuter status, declaw status, outdoor access, Fe-BARQ subscales and miscellaneous items using Pearson Chi Square tests, Kruskal-Wallis tests, and mixed effects ordinal logistic regression models. Almost all Fe-BARQ subscales and miscellaneous items were associated with owners’ perceptions of their cats’ behavioral problems in the univariate analysis, excluding predatory behavior, prey interest, vocalizations, location preferences for resting, and lying on items when in use. Multivariate analysis showed owners were more likely to perceive their cat’s behavior as problematic if the cat exhibited owner-directed aggression (OR 2.31, 95% CI 2.01–2.65), familiar cat aggression (OR 1.75, 95% CI 1.55–1.96), urine spraying (OR 1.75, 95% CI 1.53–2.00), crepuscular activity (OR 1.38, 95% CI 1.24–1.53), fear of novelty (OR 1.14, 95% CI 1.05–1.24) or escaping behavior (OR 1.15, 95% CI 1.07–1.23). Cats who readily adapted to change (OR 0.81, 95% CI 0.74–0.89), slept on appliances/elevated spaces (OR 0.88, 95% CI 0.79–0.98), or kneaded (OR 0.90, 95% CI 0.85–0.96) were less likely to be perceived as problematic. Our results suggest cat owners were more likely to view their cat’s behavior as problematic if the behavior directly affected their lifestyle or environment, such as aggression, house soiling or activity during the night, while other behaviors, such as separation-related behavior, excessive self-grooming, and predatory behavior, did not influence owners’ perceptions of cat behavior within the multivariate models. Further education may help cat owners to recognize the importance of these other behaviors as indicators of animal welfare and understand the wider impacts of cat behavior, including through predation on wildlife.

Are tourists neophobic against offal meals?

The study was conducted to determine the neophobia levels and neophobic status of foreign tourists visiting Turkey against offal food, which has an important place in Turkish cuisine. A questionnaire of 10 questions was directed to a total of 933 participants, 563 men and 370 women, who came to Turkey as tourists from 5 continents (Asia, Africa, Australia, America and Europe). The data collected by the online questionnaire method was transferred to the SPSS package program; difference and correlation analyzes were performed using t-test, F-test (ANOVA), and Chi-square (Crosstab) analysis techniques. According to the results obtained, the participants' fear of novelty in food was above the average; it was determined that the majority of them were neophobic and they did not eat every meal by being selective about food. It was concluded that the majority of tourists are afraid of eating a new and different Turkish offal food that they have not experienced before, going to different ethnic restaurants, and consuming products for different country cuisines, on the other hand, it was found that they can consume Turkish offal food as long as they make it at home. In addition, it was determined that the neophobic levels of men, the elderly, tourists with high education and income levels and those living in America, Australia and Africa were higher against Turkish offal meals. When the literature was scanned, it was determined that the studies on offal meals were limited. In addition, no study has been found that includes the relationship between offal food and neophobia or measures the level of neophobia. The study will contribute to the field of gastronomy with this unique aspect.

Fear of the new? Geckos hesitate to attack novel prey, feed near objects and enter a novel space

Neophobia, the fear of novelty, is an ecologically important response which enables animals to avoid potentially harmful situations. Neophobia is a cognitive process by which individuals distinguish novelty from familiarity. In this study, we aimed to quantify this cognitive process in captive tokay geckos (Gekko gecko) across three contexts: when encountering novel prey, foraging near novel objects and entering a novel space. We also investigated individual consistency across trials using different novel stimuli, and correlation of individual responses across the three contexts. We found that geckos hesitate to attack novel prey and prey close to objects (familiar and novel). Geckos hesitated the most when entering novel space. Repeatability of behaviour within and across contexts was low (R = 0.101–0.190) indicating that neophobia might not be expressed similarly across contexts. The strength of a neophobic response can indicate how anxious or curious an individual is. This test has great potential to help answer questions about how captivity, enrichment, rearing environment and cognition affect fear responses in different contexts in lizards. By studying reptiles, we can better understand the universality of what is known about the causes leading to difference in neophobia across individuals and species.

¿Do behavioral, body and habitat features influence the cognitive performance of Sicalis flaveola?

In recent decades, the demonstration of cognitive abilities in birds has been documented and various tests have been designed to adequately evaluate their capacities. However, the results of these tests can also be influenced by aspects other than cognitive ability, such as behavioral, body and habitat characteristics. Species facing rapid and new environmental changes must express a cognitive performance that allows them to overcome obstacles through learning and acting, despite the fear of novelty. Even though Sicalis flaveola is extremely successful in disturbed environments, as with most tropical species, its behavioral flexibility and learning capacity are largely unknown. The objective of this study was to evaluate the cognitive abilityof S. flaveola and to determine whether cognition is affected by shyness, neophobia and body condition in individuals from two populations with different degrees of urbanization in Colombia. Obstacle removal and color discrimination tests were applied to 28 individuals in captivity. Shyness and neophobia were not found to be influenced by the place of origin, body condition or sex. For obstacle removal test, shyness and neophobia affected S. flaveolalearning speed of learning, but not discrimination. The ability to discriminate was in turn affected by the speed at which the birds learned to remove obstacles, level of difficulty, and the number of attempts required to solve the test. Learning capacity in this species is confirmed.

Does the presence of a conspecific increase or decrease fear? Neophobia and habituation in zebra finches

AbstractNeophobia, defined as the fear of novelty, can be exhibited when individuals encounter unfamiliar stimuli in their environment. Neophobia has been shown to both increase and decrease when individuals are with conspecifics. An increase in latency to contact new objects can be explained by the negotiation hypothesis, which proposes that individuals in groups will negotiate who will approach novelty first, thereby delaying the first contact. This negotiation process could co‐occur with and mask a potential effect of risk dilution, where individuals in groups should approach novel objects faster due to lower perceived risk in a social than non‐social context. Here, we aimed to test the risk dilution hypothesis using an experimental set‐up that precluded negotiation among group members by physically separating dyads during social trials. We presented zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata) with different novel objects in both social and non‐social contexts. We also repeated the presentation of each object to investigate, for the first time to our knowledge, the effect of social context on the change in neophobia over repeated encounters (i.e., habituation). We found that social context increased the latency to approach a novel object upon first presentation of objects (i.e., increased neophobia), but these latencies decreased faster over repeated presentations of the objects (i.e., faster habituation) compared to the non‐social context. These results do not provide support for the risk dilution hypothesis regarding first encounters with objects (neophobia) but seem to support it over repeated object presentations (habituation). This suggests that the effect of social context is different on neophobia and habituation, possibly because they recruit different cognitive mechanisms. Future studies should investigate the impact of ecological and social conditions on decision‐making upon first versus subsequent encounters with a novel object in social animals, as both processes can impact fitness costs and benefits of novelty responses.

How urban and rural birds respond to the colour of bird feeders?

Birds can adapt to urban areas by modifying their foraging behaviours to exploit novel urban food sources, which are far more diverse than in the country. Neophobia, the fear of novelty, can lead to missed new sources of food. Urban populations of birds usually display a lesser level of neophobia than rural populations. We examined the response of birds in urban and rural habitats to the presence of new feeders. One feeder was green (the colour of preference, according to the literature), the other one was yellow (the colour avoided); feeders of these colours are not normally used in the study area, where the colour of bird feeders is usually the natural colour of wood. We hypothesised that the yellow feeder was more likely to be avoided by rural than urban birds because of the greater neophobia exhibited by the former. During the wintering season, we carried out 22 experiments in towns and 21 in villages in east-central Poland. The interaction between habitat and feeder colour was close to zero (number of visits to a feeder, choice of first feeder). However, we did find a smaller number of visits to yellow feeders and more frequent visits to feeders in urban areas. Birds may have treated the yellow colour as aposematic, hence their avoidance of yellow feeders, whereas more visits were made to feeders in urban areas because fewer natural food resources are available there than in rural habitats.

Cultural relativity in consumers' rates of adoption of artificial intelligence

AbstractArtificial intelligence (AI) is a cost‐efficient innovation that challenges customers' consumption patterns and fears of uncertainty. This study assesses whether the likelihood that consumers adopt AI in banking services depends on tastes across different cultures. We propose a culturally‐augmented Arrow–Bilir–Sorensen model to assess the propensity that consumers use AI. Analyses of a unique ING Bank dataset encompassing 11,000 respondents from 11 countries reveal that success rates for the diffusion of robo‐advisory financial services in retail banking vary substantially due to the cultural boundedness of choice. This bias seems to be associated with social capital rather than the fear of novelty.

Behavioral effects of new compounds based on coumarin in rats

Introduction. A study of the effects of coumarins has not received widespread use in medicine, largely due to the lack of optimal dosage forms, the creation of which is complicated by their poor solubility in water. Currently, studies are underway on the synthesis of macromolecules, combining various structural fragments, which will lead to increased biological activity of the synthesized coumarin derivatives compared to natural coumarins.
 The aim of this work was to study the central effect of new coumarin-based compounds: IEM-2262, IEM-2263, IEM-2266, IEM-2267 on emotional and research behavior in rats.
 Methods. Studies have been carried out using battery of tests that are commonly used to study emotional and exploratory behavior: an open field test and an elevated plus maze in rats. The neuroprotector mexidol (200 mg/kg i.p., Farmasoft, Russia) was used as a reference substance.
 Results. Coumarins (1050 mg/kg ip) have been shown to have a mild psychotropic, predominantly anti-anxiety and sedative effect. 7-Alkoxycoumarins (IEM-2262 and IEM-2266) and 4-aminocoumarins (IEM-2263 and IEM-2267) have different sensitivity in the open field compared with the effects in the elevated plus maze. Anxiolytic properties appeared in the elevated plus maze after the administration of 4-aminocoumarins (IEM-2263 and IEM-2267). The number of defecation boluses in the open field decreased as a result of the administration of 7-alkoxycoumarins (IEM-2262), which was associated not only with fear of novelty, but to a greater extent with anti-stress action. Thus, the new coumarin derivatives have mild tranquilizing and anti-stress effects and can be used in the future for post-traumatic stress disorders with panic attacks.

COVID‐19 and implications for eating disorders

<scp>COVID</scp>‐19 and implications for eating disorders

ПСИХОЛОГІЧНІ ОСОБЛИВОСТІ СОРОМ'ЯЗЛИВОСТІ У ДІТЕЙ ДОШКІЛЬНОГ ОВІКУ

The article provides a theoretical and empirical analysis of the psychological characteristics of the manifestation of shyness in preschool children. Analyzed the scientists' views on understanding of the studied phenomenon, the classification of pathological and personal forms of manifestation of personality shyness is considered. The psychological characteristics of "internally" and "externally" shy preschoolers are characterized. The positive and negative influence of shyness on the mental development of a preschool child has been substantiated. Based on a theoretical analysis of psychological literature, has given its own definition of the concept of personal shyness of a preschooler. With the help of the conducted empirical research, the structural components of personal shyness in preschool children were identified. In preschool, shyness can take the form of "internal" or "external" introspection and stimulate the search for optimal ways to overcome negative experiences using primitive isolation, autistic fantasies, etc. In our opinion, shyness in preschool children is an integrated personal quality, which is a component of emotional and volitional behavior of the child and manifests itself in the form of low self-esteem, underdeveloped communication skills, fear, need for external support and intrapersonal conflicts. The components of the self-concept of a shy preschooler have their own specific features: behavioral is characterized by fear of novelty, insecurity, conformity, lack of initiative, neglect of joint play activities, etc .; affective-evaluative component – insecurity, anxiety, timidity, anxiety, loneliness, fear of social contacts, dependence on the assessments of others, emotional vulnerability to failure; the communicative component is characterized by silence, limitations, selectivity or avoidance of interaction, inability to maintain long-term contacts, express their own opinions, etc. The results of our observational experiment showed that the presence of indicators characteristic of a high level of personal shyness was found in 21.15% of preschool children, the average level of formation in 37.63% of subjects and a low level of shyness in preschool age was found in 41.22% of children.

Does city life reduce neophobia? A study on wild black-capped chickadees.

AbstractAs human populations increase and city borders grow, many animals have to modify foraging behaviors in order to exploit evolutionarily novel urban food sources that could aid their survival. Neophobia, the fear of novelty, can lead to missed opportunities in these cases. Here, we studied the novelty response of wild animals in ecologically relevant conditions while controlling for individual characteristics and potential differences in foraging group size. We predicted that urban black-capped chickadees (Poecile atricapillus) would be more likely to initially contact novelty than rural chickadees and that subordinates and juveniles would be more likely to first contact novelty than dominants and adults, respectively. We ran replicated experiments using three novelty types (object, color, or food) on six sites, during which we registered feeder choice of 71 tagged individuals. We found that urban chickadees showed less neophobia than their rural counterparts, the latter having a higher probability of initially contacting the familiar feeder before approaching the novel feeder. There was no significant effect of an individual’s dominance, age, or sex on its first choice of feeder, nor was there any effect of novelty type. Overall, our results suggest that urban chickadees exhibit less neophobia than their rural counterparts because they have generally learned to tolerate novelty in their habitat, they have adapted to live in an environment that rewards low neophobia, and/or they are less reluctant to use feeders at new locations.

Dogs, but Not Wolves, Lose Their Sensitivity Toward Novelty With Age.

Selection of behavioral traits holds a prominent role in the domestication of animals, and domesticated species are generally assumed to express reduced fear and reactivity toward novel stimuli compared to their ancestral species. However, very few studies have explicitly tested this proposed link between domestication and reduced fear responses. Of the limited number of studies experimentally addressing the alterations of fear during domestication, the majority has been done on canids. These studies on foxes, wolves, and dogs suggest that decreased expression of fear in domesticated animals is linked to a domestication-driven delay in the first onset of fearful behavior during early ontogeny. Thus, wolves are expected to express exaggerated fearfulness earlier during ontogeny compared to dogs. However, while adult dogs are less fearful toward novelty than adult wolves and wolf-dog hybrids, consensus is lacking on when differences in fear expression arise in wolves and dogs. Here we present the first extended examination of fear development in hand-raised dogs and European gray wolves, using repeated novel object tests from 6 to 26 weeks of age. Contrary to expectations, we found no evidence in support of an increase in fearfulness in wolves with age or a delayed onset of fear response in dogs compared to wolves. Instead, we found that dogs strongly reduced their fear response in the period between 6 and 26 weeks of age, resulting in a significant species difference in fear expression toward novelty from the age of 18 weeks. Critically, as wolves did not differ in their fear response toward novelty over time, the detected species difference was caused solely by a progressive reduced fear response in dogs. Our results thereby suggest that species differences in fear of novelty between wolves and dogs are not caused by a domestication-driven shift in the first onset of fear response. Instead, we suggest that a loss of sensitivity toward novelty with age in dogs causes the difference in fear expression toward novelty in wolves and dogs.

The Endocannabinoid System Differentially Regulates Escape Behavior in Mice

Among the hardwired behaviors, fear or survival responses certainly belong to the most evolutionary conserved ones. However, higher animals possess the ability to adapt to certain environments (e.g., novel foraging grounds), and, therefore, those responses need to be plastic. Previous studies revealed a cell-type specific role of the endocannabinoid system in novelty fear, conditioned fear and active vs. passive avoidance in a shuttle box paradigm. In this study we aim to investigate, whether knocking-out the cannabinoid receptor type-1 (CB1) on cortical glutamatergic (Glu-CB1−/−) or GABAergic (GABA-CB1−/−) neurons differentially affects the level of behavioral inhibition, which could ultimately lead to differences in escape behavior. In this context, we developed a novel behavioral paradigm, the Moving Wall Box (MWB). Using the MWB task we could show that Glu-CB1−/− mice have higher levels of behavioral inhibition over the course of repeated testing. GABA-CB1−/− mice, in contrast, showed significantly lower levels of behavioral inhibition compared to wild-type controls and more escape behavior. These changes in behavioral inhibition and escape behavior cannot be explained by altered levels of arousal, as repeated startle measurements revealed general habituation irrespective of the line and genotype of the animals. Taken together, we could show that CB1 on cortical glutamatergic terminals is important for the acquisition of active avoidance, as the absence of CB1 on these neurons creates a bias toward inhibitory avoidance. This is the case in situations without punishment such as electric footshocks. On the contrary CB1 receptors on GABAergic neurons mediate the acquisition of passive avoidance, as the absence of CB1 on those neurons establishes a strong bias toward escape behavior.

Some like it varied: Individual differences in preference for feed variety in dairy heifers

Motivation to explore is believed to be widespread among animals, but exploratory behaviour varies within populations. Offering variety in feed is one simple way of allowing intensively housed dairy cattle to express exploratory foraging behaviour. Individuals’ exploration of different feed types, as with other new stimuli, likely reflects a balance between exploratory motivation and fear of novelty. We tested the degree to which Holstein heifers (n=10) preferred variety in feed vs. a constant, high quality mixed ration, by first providing varying types of forages and then varying flavours of mixed feed. We also investigated individual differences in exploratory behaviour by measuring switching between feed bins. Individual consistency in preferences was assessed between tests, and longer-term consistency was evaluated by comparing these results with behaviour in novel object and novel feed tests before weaning. On average, the heifers preferred the constant, familiar feed (spending on average just 20% of their time at varied feed bins), but this preference varied among individuals (from 0 to 46% of time eating in the forage trial, and 0–93% in the flavour trial). Preference for varied forages correlated positively with intake of novel feed as calves (rs=0.72, n=9). Preference for varied flavours showed a negative correlation with latency to approach a novel object (rs=−0.65). It thus appears that preference for variety and exploratory foraging behaviour reflect consistent personality traits. These results suggest that offering novel feeds on a rotating schedule as a supplement to the regular diet may be an effective form of enrichment for at least some individuals within a herd.

Seasonal changes in neophobia and its consistency in rooks: the effect of novelty type and dominance position

Neophobia, or the fear of novelty, may offer benefits to animals by limiting their exposure to unknown danger, but can also impose costs by preventing the exploration of potential resources. The costs and benefits of neophobia may vary throughout the year if predation pressure, resource distribution or conspecific competition changes seasonally. Despite such variation, neophobia levels are often assumed to be temporally and individually stable. Whether or not neophobia expression changes seasonally and fluctuates equally for all individuals is crucial to understanding the drivers, consequences and plasticity of novelty avoidance. We investigated seasonal differences and individual consistency in the motivation and novelty responses of a captive group of rooks, Corvus frugilegus, a seasonally breeding, colonial species of corvid that is known for being neophobic. We tested the group around novel objects and novel people to determine whether responses generalized across novelty types, and considered whether differences in dominance could influence the social risk of approaching unknown stimuli. We found that the group's level of object neophobia was stable year-round, but individuals were not consistent between seasons, despite being consistent within seasons. In contrast, the group's avoidance of novel people decreased during the breeding season, and individuals were consistent year-round. Additionally, although subordinate birds were more likely to challenge dominants during the breeding season, this social risk taking did not translate to greater novelty approach. Since seasonal variation and individual consistency varied differently towards each novelty type, responses towards novel objects and people seem to be governed by different mechanisms. Such a degree of fluctuation has consequences for other individually consistent behaviours often measured within the nonhuman personality literature.

Short periods of prior exposure can increase the intake by sheep of a woody forage shrub, Rhagodia preissii

Rhagodia preissii (Moq.) is a woody perennial shrub that is being investigated as a forage plant for livestock but some uncertainty about its potential exists because of its low acceptance and variable intake by sheep. Initial evidence suggests that sheep may avoid the plant due to its novelty, or due to a deterrent plant compound that might be reduced with drying. This study investigated the hypotheses that (1) a low preference for, and intake of, R. preissii is due to neophobia (fear of novelty) and can be overcome by training and (2) drying R. preissii plant material will increase its preference. Thirty-six 12-month-old Merino ewe lambs were divided into control and treatment groups and given different feed training experiences over 10 days. The treatments were exposure to R. preissii either as a feed (forage) or as a pulp via oral drenching, or exposure to other novel feeds. Sheep that had been exposed to R. preissii forage during training increased their intake of R. preissii during subsequent feed preference tests by at least eight fold (P<0.05). However, training did not increase the relative preference for (or against) R. preissii when it was offered in combination with another feed. The intake of R. preissii was not affected by the form (dry or fresh) in which it was offered but, overall, preference was higher for dry R. preissii over fresh (P<0.001). The effect of training on intake of R. preissii varied greatly among individual sheep. This study demonstrated that avoidance of R. preissii is at least partially due to neophobia, which can be reduced with training to novel feeds that include R. preissii itself. However, the overall reluctance of sheep to eat R. preissii might also indicate the presence of an anti-nutritional factor that could be associated with a taste or odour that serves as a deterrent.

Cognitive control moderates early childhood temperament in predicting social behavior in 7-year-old children: an ERP study.

Behavioral inhibition (BI) is a temperament associated with heightened vigilance and fear of novelty in early childhood, and social reticence and increased risk for anxiety problems later in development. However, not all behaviorally inhibited children develop signs of anxiety. One mechanism that might contribute to the variability in developmental trajectories is the recruitment of cognitive-control resources. The current study measured N2 activation, an ERP (event-related potential) associated with cognitive control, and modeled source-space activation (LORETA; Low Resolution Brain Electromagnetic Tomography) at 7 years of age while children performed a go/no-go task. Activation was estimated for the entire cortex and then exported for four regions of interest: ventromedial prefrontal cortex (VMPFC), ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (VLPFC), dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dorsal ACC), and dorsal lateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC). BI was measured in early childhood (ages 2 and 3 years). Anxiety problems and social reticence were measured at 7 years of age to ascertain stability of temperamental style. Results revealed that BI was associated with increased performance accuracy, longer reaction times, greater (more negative) N2 activation, and higher estimated dorsal ACC and DLPFC activation. Furthermore, early BI was only associated with social reticence at age 7 at higher (more negative) levels of N2 activation or higher estimated dorsal ACC or DLPFC activation. Results are discussed in the context of overcontrolled behavior contributing to social reticence and signs of anxiety in middle childhood.

Fear of Novelty: A Model of Scientific Discovery with Strategic Uncertainty

Fear of Novelty: A Model of Scientific Discovery with Strategic Uncertainty