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1. Cognitive complexity explains processing asymmetry in judgments of similarity versus difference

   https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cogpsych.2024.101661  

   Ichien, Nicholas; Lin, Nyusha; Holyoak, Keith J; Lu, Hongjing (June 2024, Cognitive Psychology)

   Human judgments of similarity and difference are sometimes asymmetrical, with the former being more sensitive than the latter to relational overlap, but the theoretical basis for this asymmetry remains unclear. We test an explanation based on the type of information used to make these judgments (relations versus features) and the comparison process itself (similarity versus difference). We propose that asymmetries arise from two aspects of cognitive complexity that impact judgments of similarity and difference: processing relations between entities is more cognitively demanding than processing features of individual entities, and comparisons assessing difference are more cognitively complex than those assessing similarity. In Experiment 1 we tested this hypothesis for both verbal comparisons between word pairs, and visual comparisons between sets of geometric shapes. Participants were asked to select one of two options that was either more similar to or more different from a standard. On unambiguous trials, one option was unambiguously more similar to the standard; on ambiguous trials, one option was more featurally similar to the standard, whereas the other was more relationally similar. Given the higher cognitive complexity of processing relations and of assessing difference, we predicted that detecting relational difference would be particularly demanding. We found that participants (1) had more difficulty detecting relational difference than they did relational similarity on unambiguous trials, and (2) tended to emphasize relational information more when judging similarity than when judging difference on ambiguous trials. The latter finding was replicated using more complex story stimuli (Experiment 2). We showed that this pattern can be captured by a computational model of comparison that weights relational information more heavily for similarity than for difference judgments. 

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2. Unequal considerations of justice in municipal adaptation planning: an assessment of US climate plans over time and by context

   https://doi.org/10.1080/13549839.2024.2368532  

   Brousseau, Jennifer J; Stern, Marc J; Hansen, Lara J (June 2024, Local Environment)

   Climate adaptation planning is increasingly approached locally through a social justice lens to ensure the needs of the most vulnerable are addressed. This study aims to identify trends in how recognitional, distributional, and procedural justice are considered within climate adaptation plans over time and across socio-demographic contexts. We coded these forms of justice in 101 climate adaptation plans and related documents published in the United States between 2010 and 2021 and conducted a series of regressions to understand patterns over time and across contexts. Newer plans more commonly addressed each type of justice, with a marked shift in plans published after 2017. More recent plans addressed new elements of recognitional justice (e.g. historical marginalisation, racial justice), a broader scope of distributional justice approaches (e.g. more strategies related to greenspaces, food, and green jobs), and more procedural justice-related initiatives to engage marginalised residents in adaptation. Plans from more Republican-leaning communities considered recognitional and distributional justice to a lesser degree than those from more Democratic-leaning areas. Plans by larger communities were more likely to address procedural justice and include strategies for monitoring the impacts to marginalised people. Plans from communities with a larger percentage of residents living in poverty addressed distributional justice more often and acknowledged more injustices faced by marginalised groups more often. We observed no trends in the treatment of procedural justice related to racial demographics or income. We discuss potential reasons for these trends and their implications. 

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3. The Impact of Consumer Credit Access on Unemployment

   https://doi.org/10.1093/restud/rdz006  

   Herkenhoff, Kyle F (February 2019, The Review of Economic Studies)

   Abstract Unemployed households’ access to unsecured revolving credit more than tripled over the last three decades. This article analyses how both cyclical fluctuations and trend increases in credit access impact the business cycle. The main quantitative result is that credit expansions and contractions have contributed to moderately deeper and more protracted recessions over the last 40 years. As more individuals obtained credit from 1977 to 2010, cyclical credit fluctuations affected a larger share of the population and became more important determinants of employment dynamics. Even though business cycles are more volatile, newborns strictly prefer to live in the economy with growing, but fluctuating, access to credit markets. 

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4. Social selectivity in aging wild chimpanzees

   https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aaz9129  

   Rosati, Alexandra G.; Hagberg, Lindsey; Enigk, Drew K.; Otali, Emily; Emery Thompson, Melissa; Muller, Martin N.; Wrangham, Richard W.; Machanda, Zarin P. (October 2020, Science)

   Humans prioritize close, positive relationships during aging, and socioemotional selectivity theory proposes that this shift causally depends on capacities for thinking about personal future time horizons. To examine this theory, we tested for key elements of human social aging in longitudinal data on wild chimpanzees. Aging male chimpanzees have more mutual friendships characterized by high, equitable investment, whereas younger males have more one-sided relationships. Older males are more likely to be alone, but they also socialize more with important social partners. Further, males show a relative shift from more agonistic interactions to more positive, affiliative interactions over their life span. Our findings indicate that social selectivity can emerge in the absence of complex future-oriented cognition, and they provide an evolutionary context for patterns of social aging in humans. 

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5. Conformity and tradition are more important than environmental values in constraining resource overharvest

   https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0272366  

   Wright, Glenn; Salk, Carl; Magnuszewski, Piotr; Stefanska, Joanna; Andersson, Krister; Benavides, Jean Paul; Chazdon, Robin (February 2023, PLOS ONE)

   Zerriffi, Hisham (Ed.)

   We present the results of a hybrid research design that borrows from both experimental techniques—experimental games—and observational techniques—surveys—to examine the relationships between basic human values and exposure to natural ecosystems, on the one hand, and collective action for resource governance, on the other. We initially hypothesize that more frequent exposure to forests, and more pro-environmental values will be associated with more conservation action. However, we find that other values—tradition and conformity—are more important than pro-environmental values or exposure to nature. Our results imply that resource governance is likely to be more successful where resource users hold values that facilitate cooperation, not necessarily strong pro-environmental values. 

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