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Introduction: Lack of physical activity (PA) is associated with obesity, diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular diseases, and cancer. Parenting practices influence PA in young children. However, there is little evidence available for adolescents. We examined whether parenting practices were associated with out-of-school PA (OSPA) in US adolescents. Methods: This cross-sectional 2019 study analyzed data from the 2014 FLASHE study, a web-based, quota-sampled survey of parent–adolescent dyads. Inclusion required survey completion and parents to live with their teen (ages 12–17 y old). Physically limited adolescents were excluded. Dyads were stratified by teen age. Exposures included parental modeling, monitoring, facilitation, restriction, guided choice, and pressure. The outcomes of interest were OSPA Youth Activity Profile scores. Odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated using adjusted logistic regressions. Results: A total of 1109 dyads were included. Guided choice increased odds of OSPA for 15- to 17-year-olds (OR = 2.12; 95% CI, 1.17–3.84). Facilitation increased odds of OSPA for 12- to 14-year-olds (OR = 2.21; 95% CI, 1.13–4.33). Monitoring decreased odds of OSPA for 15- to 17-year-olds (OR = 0.34; 95% CI, 0.20–0.57) and 12- to 14-year-olds (OR = 0.45; 95% CI, 0.27–0.74). Friend support increased odds of OSPA in 15- to 17-year-olds (OR = 4.03; 95% CI, 2.29–7.08) and 12- to 14-year-olds (OR = 3.05; 95% CI 1.69–5.51). Conclusion: Future interventions should prioritize (1) shared decision making for older teens, (2) access to PA opportunities for younger adolescents, and (3) promoting peer PA and friend support for everyone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several aspects of the migratory behaviour of birds, notably timing, direction and duration, have been shown, mainly from breeding experiments, to be under genetic influence. Nevertheless, aspects of migratory behaviour can be improved by learning, either from personal experience or from other individuals. This review is concerned with social influence on different aspects of bird migration. Communal migration can provide not only the usual anti-predation and food-finding benefits, but also energy savings (resulting from particular flock structures), greater synchronization of individual journeys and improved route finding. Individuals in a group can pool their knowledge of directions and routes to mutual benefit, and if a group contains different age-groups, naïve youngsters can learn from more experienced individuals. These advantages may be one reason why many birds migrate in flocks or in more diffuse aggregations, even some species that normally live solitarily. Some species, notably swans, geese and cranes, migrate as family units within flocks, so young could learn migratory routes, stopover sites and wintering areas from their parents. And providing the two age-groups migrated together, the young of other species could learn the same details from older, more experienced individuals, whether related or not. In the daytime, some birds can be seen to migrate on their own, while others travel in groups, flocks or other looser assemblages. Night migration has been studied by radar, ceilometers and other artificial lights and by 'moon-watching', as well as by sound recording to detect flight calls. While some species travel at night in dense flocks, as in the daytime, others (including some solitary species) seem to travel in loose aggregations which may form once the birds are airborne. Calling maintains contact between individuals and may thereby provide information on optimal directions, flight altitudes and other aspects. Species vary in the extent to which they call at night, but such vocalizations increase at times of change, such as take-offs and landings, altitude changes or as birds enter mist. Many birds show specific behaviours before migration which serve to synchronize departures of those individuals which have reached an appropriate condition. Individual homing pigeons, released at a distance, can normally find their way back to their home loft, but different pigeons may develop different routes. When pairs of pigeons, which have developed different routes, are released together, they may either take an intermediate route or one pigeon may join the other regarded as 'leader'. The larger the difference in experience between two pigeons, the greater the likelihood that the more experienced bird will emerge as leader. Migration in flocks may improve the accuracy of orientation if the direction of the flock is an average of the headings of the individual flock members (the 'many wrongs' principle). This notion has been supported by experiments on homing pigeons, and also by observations of wild birds, in which single individuals or small groups showed more variation in their directions than did larger groups. In general, directional scatter decreased as group size increased. In such systems, individual birds benefit from social contact with others, but all individuals have equal influence on the resulting direction. In practice, some birds (leaders) are likely to have more influence on directions than others (experienced more than inexperienced), as shown in experiments with pigeons and tracking of wild goose families on migration. Large scale field experiments have also shown that birds can be influenced in their movements by others of their species, and that even birds from resident populations can sometimes be induced to migrate when released into areas where migrants prevail. When juveniles are released in the absence of experienced adults, they take a wider range of directions than normal, some of which take them off an optimal route. By training geese, swans or cranes to fly behind ultralight aircraft, new migration routes have been created, re-establishing migratory populations in areas from which they were eliminated in the past. Such experiments further illustrate the role of social influence on bird migratory patterns. Suggestions are made for further research aimed to fill gaps in understanding and to take forward our understanding of social influence on migratory behaviour. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dams and other in‐stream obstacles disrupt longitudinal connectivity and hinder fish from moving between habitats. Fishways and other fish passage solutions are used to pass fish over these artificial migration barriers. Fish passage functionality, however, varies greatly with fish passage design and environmental conditions and depends on fish species and characteristics. In particular, swimming performance and fish behaviour are considered key characteristics to predict fish passage performance. It is also well known, but not well quantified, that the presence of conspecifics affects fish passage behaviour. In this study, we quantified individual passage rates of PIT‐tagged gudgeons (Gobio gobio) over a scaled deep side notch weir in an hydraulic flume. We then quantified individual swimming capability (time to fatigue) and activity level (distance moved in an open field test) for the same individual fish and tested for potential effects on fish passage rate. To check for potential group effects, we then repeated the passage experiment for fish individually or in groups of five. More active fish displayed higher passage rates compared to less active fish, and fish passed the obstacle at higher rates in groups of five compared to alone. No effect of fish swimming capability on passage rates was detected. This result highlights the need to take both individual variation as well as the presence and behaviour of conspecifics into account in fish passage studies and evaluations. Doing so has the potential to improve the understanding of fish behaviour, and in the end, the design of fish passage solutions. Future studies should explore these results on free ranging fish and in relation to in‐situ fish passage solutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With an increase in interactions with non-human agents, understanding and forecasting the consequences of human interactions with them have become increasingly crucial. The present study focused on a subset of non-human agents known as virtual characters. To investigate whether people respond in the same way to a virtual character as they do to a real human, we replicated a classic test of human-human social interaction, specifically, the social facilitation and inhibition effects. The theory of social facilitation/inhibition states that in the presence of others, people perform simple or learned tasks better and complex or novel tasks worse. In the present study, participants were given different tasks (letter typing, Sudoku, and maze) of varying difficulty (easy and difficult) to complete either alone, in the presence of a real person, or in the presence of a virtual character. The participants’ task performance was determined by the number of subjects completed within the specified time. The results of 60 participants demonstrated a significant improvement in the performance of easy tasks when a virtual character was present compared with performing those tasks alone, providing evidence for social facilitation effects. For the difficult tasks, task performance did not show decline in the presence of a virtual character. According to these findings, it is possible to avoid social inhibition in the presence of a virtual character. The present study will be a reference for scholars interested in further investigating how non-human agents impact social facilitation effects and implement virtual agents in educational settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sports like dancing and gymnastics are often performed in front of an audience. It is therefore an important question whether spectators help or hinder movement execution. Previous research suggests that the influence of spectators on motor performance depends on the type of task, with condition-based tasks being facilitated, and coordination-based tasks being inhibited (for a recent review, see van Meurs, Greve, & Strauss, 2022). We tested a group of female carnival dancers (N = 15, Mage = 19; age range between 15 and 35 years) over the course of a competitive season. The same dance choreography was performed at four timepoints, each time with and without spectators. Dance performances were videotaped and afterwards rated by 7 qualified raters, who were blinded concerning the experimental condition. Raters noted an increased quality of the dance with increasing practice (linear and cubic trend). Concerning social facilitation effects, dance performance was either improved (timepoint 2) or unchanged (timepoints 1, 3, and 4) in front of the audience. Our results indicate that a complex coordination task like the carnival dance may be facilitated when being watched. Future research should address whether these findings can be replicated in other aesthetic sports (like gymnastics), whether they are influenced by gender, and how individual performances influence the group outcome. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While overt social atypicalities remain a key component of the autistic phenotype, recent reframing of autistic social motivation suggests that these atypicalities do not overlap with their actual level of social engagement. Our study aimed to investigate autistic preschoolers' visual attention toward social situations with unequal interactive load and determine the potential benefits of parallel competition, a form of lateral tutorship. The study observed 26 autistic preschoolers and 20 typically developing children. First, a gaze-contingent procedure measured visual attention toward videos of parallel competitive play, overtly cooperative play, and a non-social object. Then, a motor task and a cognitive task were conducted, both independently and with a parallel competitor to assess the effect of parallel engagement on children's performance. Eye-tracking demonstrated autistic children displayed reduced attention toward competition than typically developing children. However, behavioral data revealed the presence of a parallel competitor significantly and similarly improved performance for autistics and typically developing children. These findings suggest a dissociation between social attention and social facilitation in young autistic children, indicating that atypical visual patterns toward social situations do not necessarily preclude them from benefiting from these situations. As such, activities parallel to the child activities, or lateral tutorship, may represent an addition to traditional joint-interactive activities in early education for autistic children. Recent research suggests that we might have underestimated the social motivation of autistic individuals. Autistic children might be engaged in a social situation, even if they seem not to be attending to people in a typical way. Our study investigated how young autistic children behave in a "parallel" situation, which we call "parallel competition," where people participate in friendly contests side-by-side but without direct interaction. First, we used eye-tracking technology to observe how much autistic children pay attention to two video scenarios: one depicting parallel competition, and the other where individuals play directly with each other. The results showed that autistic children looked less toward the parallel competition video than their typically developing peers. However, when autistic children took part in parallel competitions themselves, playing physical and cognitive games against a teacher, their performance improved relative to playing individually just as much as their typically developing peers. This suggests that even though autistic children pay attention to social events differently, they can still benefit from the presence of others. These findings suggest complementing traditional cooperative activities by incorporating parallel activities into educational programs for young autistic children. By doing so, we can create more inclusive learning environments for these children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Virtual fencing is an alternative to the ubiquitously used physical fences. It uses GPS to determine the location of livestock relative to a virtual line. The system deters livestock from leaving the enclosure by using an auditory warning followed by an electric impulse during approach and crossing of the fence line. This paper assessed the social effects on learning between cattle with and without prior experience with virtual fencing through three case studies: one with a gradual and two with an instant introduction method. These were applied to assess if improvements in associative learning could be made. Due to the non-standardised experiments, it was not possible to analyse the effect across the case studies and therefore to conclude whether the number of experienced cattle or the different introduction methods influenced the inexperienced cattle. Agricultural industries rely on physical fences to manage livestock. However, these present practical, financial, and ecological challenges, which may be solved using virtual fencing. This study aimed to identify how experienced cattle through social facilitation and the introduction method influence inexperienced cattle. Based on three stocks held in Fanø, Denmark, containing 12, 17 and 13 Angus (Bos taurus), we examined the virtual fence learning in three case studies using one gradual introduction with zero experienced cattle (A) and two different instant introductions with one (B) and ten (C) experienced cattle. Gradual introduction had the virtual fence moved 20 m every other day for eleven days, and in the two instant introductions, the physical fence was removed in one day. Warnings and impulses were recorded during an 11-day learning period and a 26-day post-learning period, using the impulses per warning to quantify if the cattle adapted. Case studies A and B showed a significant reduction in the warnings and impulses, but only A showed a significant reduction in the impulses per warning when comparing the learning period to the post-learning period. Due to the non-standardised experiments, it was not possible to conclude if the number of experienced cattle or the introduction method had an effect on the results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Observation and replication of observed behavior are two key components to organisms surviving and flourishing. In a corresponding manner, people observe the behavior of others in organizations, replicating adaptive while avoiding detrimental behaviors. Learning by observation allows workers to develop repertoires in which adaptive behaviors are reinforced while maladaptive behaviors undergo extinction or are socially and financially punished. Moreover, observers often improve their own performance when monitoring and recording the behavior of others. However, observers also might replicate inappropriate behavior. Imitation, observational learning, observational performance, and rule-governed behavior are discussed in these contexts. Finally, being viewed by others frequently enhances worker responding and accomplishments. These behaviors occur at the individual, group, and organizational levels, allowing some workers, teams, and organizations to flourish. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Alcohol consumption to facilitate social interaction is an important drinking motive. Here, we tested whether alcohol influences trust in others via modulation of oxytocin and/or androgens. We also aimed at confirming previously shown alcohol effects on positive affect and risk-taking, because of their role in facilitating social interaction. Methods: This randomized, controlled, within-subject, parallel group, alcohol-challenge experiment investigated the effects of alcohol (versus water, both mixed with orange juice) on perceived trustworthiness via salivary oxytocin (primary and secondary endpoint) as well as testosterone, dihydrotestosterone, positive affect, and risk-taking (additional endpoints). We compared 56 male participants in the alcohol condition (1.07 ± 0.18 per mille blood alcohol concentration) with 20 in the control condition. Results: The group (alcohol versus control condition) × time (before [versus during] versus after drinking) interactions were not significantly associated with perceived trustworthiness (η2 < 0.001) or oxytocin (η2 = 0.003). Bayes factors provided also substantial evidence for the absence of these effects (BF01 = 3.65; BF01 = 7.53). The group × time interactions were related to dihydrotestosterone (η2 = 0.018 with an increase in the control condition) as well as positive affect and risk-taking (η2 = 0.027 and 0.007 with increases in the alcohol condition), but not significantly to testosterone. Discussion: The results do not verify alcohol effects on perceived trustworthiness or oxytocin in male individuals. However, they indicate that alcohol (versus control) might inhibit an increase in dihydrotestosterone and confirm that alcohol amplifies positive affect and risk-taking. This provides novel mechanistic insight into social facilitation as an alcohol-drinking motive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Better (social facilitation) or worse (social inhibition) performance in a task while being observed has repeatedly been demonstrated with real human observers, yet it has not been fully tested with virtual observers. We tested this effect in a virtual environment using a visual search task to verify if the mere presence of a virtual observer would boost participants’ performance in the easy variant of the task and hinder it in the difficult one. We used electrodermal (EDA) activity measurement to test whether physiological arousal would moderate this effect. The presence of a virtual character affected search performance, which was moderated by arousal, with lower arousal leading to better performance. These results confirm that the mere presence of virtual characters can evoke a social facilitation/inhibition effect similar to that of human beings; this could confirm Zajonc’s theory and serve as encouragement for further development of VR-based training & educational tools with virtual agents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main function of birdsong is to attract mates and defend territories among conspecifics, but little is known about the potential of this behavior in generating interactions among co-existing bird species that signal at the same time. Different hypotheses have been put forward to explain the mechanisms that govern signaling in crowded acoustic spaces, including competition for acoustic space, interspecific territoriality, environmental filters, and acoustic social facilitation. We tested these hypotheses in a forest bird community by studying the behavioral, acoustic, and ecological characteristics of 13 co-occurring species. We used passive recordings to assess the magnitude and the determinants of heterospecific song co-occurrence (i.e., when different species sing at the same time and place), and playback experiments to quantify the propensity of birds to sing if stimulated by heterospecific songs. Birds more frequently sang with species with dissimilar songs. In the breeding season, they also actively sang after the playback of other species, especially if these had dissimilar songs, and occasionally after non-avian unfamiliar playbacks. Heterospecific songs may trigger song utterance because they indicate a predator-free environment, or reduce predation risk through dilution effects, and these benefits may be maximized if there is little acoustic similarity. In line with ecological theory on community assembly mechanisms, these results are compatible with limiting similarity (species with similar songs sing at different times) and suggests social facilitation between phenotypically dissimilar species. These potential biotic interactions through songs may represent a mechanism that leads to bird species coexistence and are worth exploring at the community level. Significance statement: It is generally assumed that bird species avoid acoustic overlap with birds singing similar songs, but there is also evidence of active interspecific territoriality through song displays between pairs of species. Community-wide responses through songs have never been investigated in birds, and to fill this knowledge gap we performed both observations and experiments on multiple coexisting species. Birds tended to sing with species with more dissimilar songs and they were also actively stimulated to sing when the songs of species with dissimilar songs were played back. An interaction between species with dissimilar songs therefore emerged, potentially yielding anti-predatory benefits. Such active behavior, which would have gone unnoticed if observations only were performed, involves multiple species, and therefore may represent a community-wide mechanism of species coexistence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Schizophrenia (SCZ) is a psychiatric disorder that alters both general and social cognition. However, the exact mechanisms that are altered remain to be elucidated. In this study, we investigated associative learning (AL) and facial expression recognition (FER) in the same patients, using emotional expressions and abstract images. Our main aim was to investigate how these cognitive abilities are affected by SCZ and to assess the role of mere social presence, a factor that has not been considered before. The study compared the behavioral performance of 60 treated outpatients with SCZ and 103 demographically matched healthy volunteers. In the AL task, participants had to associate abstract images or facial expressions with key presses, guided by feedback on each trial. In the FER task, they had to report whether two successively presented facial expressions were the same or different. All participants performed the two tasks under two social context conditions: alone or in the presence of a passive but attentive audience. The results showed a severe learning impairment in patients compared to controls, with a slight advantage for facial expressions compared to abstract images, and a gender-dependent effect of social presence. In contrast, facial expression recognition was partially spared in patients and facilitated by social presence. We conclude that cognitive abilities are impaired in patients with SCZ, but their investigation needs to take into account the social context in which they are assessed.

This empirical study examined the effects of the presence of others (physical observers and embodied agents) on the performance of the Stroop task within an immersive virtual reality (VR) environment. Drawing from the research conducted by Pascal Huguet and his colleagues, who explored the social facilitation and inhibition effects in traditional lab conditions using the Stroop test, the current study sought to test these effects in VR conditions. Participants were divided into four groups, each experiencing different conditions – performing the task alone, under the awareness of being observed, or in the presence of embodied agents (formally dressed as Dr. Piotr or casually as Piotrek). A one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) for independent samples was conducted to evaluate the results. Findings showed a significant reduction in Stroop interference when participants were aware of being observed by the experimenter. However, the presence of embodied agents in the VR environment, regardless of their regardless of their dress or manner of presentation, did not significantly influence the results. These results not only confirmed the occurrence of the Stroop interference effect in VR conditions, comparable to traditional lab conditions, but they also suggested that the social presence of the experimenter could enhance task performance in the VR environment. There was no significant influence observed from the presence of embodied agents, though. These observations can greatly contribute to the development of VR. However, further research is required to expand these findings, considering factors such as sample size and realism of embodied agents.

The present research tested the impact of score line, spectator presence and game location on athletes' non‐verbal behaviour (NVB). Two studies (N = 240; N = 160) tested whether the NVB of soccer players differed as a function of score line, spectator‐presence and game location by asking participants to guess the current score, the dominance, pride and confidence of soccer players in videos. Results demonstrated that NVB ratings were more negative when the athletes were trailing (less dominant, less proud, and less confident) compared to leading. Study 1 showed more non‐verbal expressiveness (social facilitation) of pleasant feelings (being in a high lead) and lower expressiveness (social inhibition) of negative feelings (trailing) in the presence of spectators. Study 2 indicated that leading at away games led to higher non‐verbal expressiveness, whereas leading at home games led to less non‐verbal expressiveness in the presence of a supportive audience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Agricultural industries rely on physical fences to manage livestock. However, these present practical, financial, and ecological challenges, which may be solved using virtual fencing. This study aimed to identify how experienced cattle through social facilitation and the introduction method influence inexperienced cattle. Based on three stocks held in Fanø, Denmark, containing 12, 17 and 13 Angus (Bos taurus), we examined the virtual fence learning in three case studies using one gradual introduction with zero experienced cattle (A) and two different instant introductions with one (B) and ten (C) experienced cattle. Gradual introduction had the virtual fence moved 20 m every other day for eleven days, and in the two instant introductions, the physical fence was removed in one day. Warnings and impulses were recorded during an 11-day learning period and a 26-day post-learning period, using the impulses per warning to quantify if the cattle adapted. Case studies A and B showed a significant reduction in the warnings and impulses, but only A showed a significant reduction in the impulses per warning when comparing the learning period to the post-learning period. Due to the non-standardised experiments, it was not possible to conclude if the number of experienced cattle or the introduction method had an effect on the results.

Comparing oneself to others is a key process in humans that allows individuals to gauge their performances and abilities and thus develop and calibrate their self-image. Little is known about its evolutionary foundations. A key feature of social comparison is the sensitivity to other individuals' performance. Recent studies on primates produced equivocal results, leading us to distinguish between a 'strong' variant of the social comparison hypothesis formulated for humans and a 'weak' variant found in non-human primates that would comprise some elements of human social comparison. Here, we focus on corvids that are distantly related to primates and renowned for their socio-cognitive skills. We were interested in whether crows' task performances were influenced (i) by the presence of a conspecific co-actor performing the same discrimination task and (ii) by the simulated acoustic cues of a putative co-actor performing better or worse than themselves. Crows reached a learning criterion quicker when tested simultaneously as compared to when tested alone, indicating a facilitating effect of social context. The performance of a putative co-actor influenced their performance: crows were better at discriminating familiar images when their co-actor was better than they were. Standard extremity (how pronounced the difference was between the performance of the subject and that of the co-actor), and category membership (affiliation status and sex), of the putative co-actors had no effect on their performance. Our findings are in line with the 'weak' variant of social comparison and indicate that elements of human social comparison can be found outside of primates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This brief commentary adds to the recent study by paper by Yokomitsu, Kono and Takada (2022). Their study examined social presence in gambling by experimentally investigating the effects of the presence of other people on risky betting among high-risk gamblers. This commentary argues that the paper by Yokomitsu et al. provided a highly selective review on available studies and omitted many of the key studies in the area of social presence and social facilitation in which their findings could have been compared. The commentary also briefly outlines a number of studies that have I co-authored in this area over the past three decades using a variety of different methodologies (e.g., non-participant observation studies, experiments, data mining of account-based tracking data), none of which were mentioned by Yokomitsu et al. despite their clear relevance to this area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The survivorship of social insects is known to increase with group size, even in situations of stress, such as starvation and exposure to insecticides. However, in termites, studies have been undertaken only with workers, disregarding the possible effect of soldiers. The role of soldiers in the termite colonies goes beyond defense, mainly in Nasutitermes species. It is already known that soldiers initiate the foraging as well as improve the decision‐making of food resources. Here, we evaluated the effect of group size and the presence of soldiers on exposure to sublethal doses of the insecticide imidacloprid in Nasutitermes corniger (Termitidae: Nasutitermitinae). To do so, toxicity bioassays were undertaken initially to determine the dose of the insecticide required to kill 50% of the N. corniger population (LD50) to be used in the main experiments. Survival bioassays were then carried out with termite groups, with and without soldiers, in different sizes (6, 10, 14, 22, 26, 30 and 60), exposed and nonexposed to insecticide. In general, the mean time to death of termites increases linearly with group size. However, the mean time to death in groups with soldiers was significantly longer only in groups exposed to the insecticide. Our results indicate that soldiers can help to increase the tolerance of nasute termite groups to insecticides, in addition to the group size, as already shown in the previous study. The size of the group and social context could, therefore, modulate behavioral and/or physiological responses that enhance the ability to survive under stressful situations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The increasingly central role of robotic agents in daily life requires effective human–robot interaction (HRI). For roboticists to optimize interaction design, it is crucial to understand the potential effects of robotic agents on human performance. Yet a systematic specification of contributing factors is lacking, and objective measures of HRI performance are still limited. In these regards, the findings of research on human–human interaction can provide valuable insights. In this review, we break down the complex effects of robotic agents on interacting humans into some basic building blocks based on human–human interaction findings, i.e., the potential effects of physical presence, motor actions, and task co-representation in HRI. For each effect, we advise on future directions regarding its implication. Furthermore, we propose that the neural correlates of these effects could support real-time evaluation and optimization of HRI with electroencephalograph (EEG)-based brain–computer interface (BCI). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims and Design: Individuals' food intake may vary depending on their situation and with whom they are having their meal. Thus this systematic review aimed to compare the effect of social facilitation between eating alone and eating with others, and evaluate the social modeling effect when eating with familiar or unfamiliar others, on food intake. Data Sources: Articles were screened and reviewed based on titles, abstracts and keywords. Inclusion criteria included experimental design, English language, open-accessed, and published from 1980 until the review was conducted in 2018. Review Methods: Using the PRISMA method, potential studies were identified on Science Direct, ProQuest, PubMed, Scopus, and BASE databases using two different keywords combinations. Results: Seventeen studies were included. For social facilitation, seven studies found that food intake increases when eating alone while five others stated it would increase when eating with others. One study suggested that it increases in both situations. For social modeling of food intake, two studies found that it commonly occurs when an individual eats in the presence of unfamiliar others, while one study reported that it happens more often with familiar others. Two other studies observed that social modeling occurs in both situations. Conclusion and Impact: Food intake tends to increase when eating alone than eating with others while the presence of familiar or unfamiliar others may either increase or limit an individual's food consumption to socially match their co-eaters' intake. Thus, good self-control is crucial for setting a dietary limit regardless of whether ones are eating alone or with familiar or unfamiliar others. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Designing a humanoid robot to assist in performing cognitive multitasking is not straightforward, as the robot's communication itself could interfere with humans' concentration on the tasks. Therefore, we focused on the social facilitation effect caused by the presence of social robots. According to our study, a social robot that expressed its willingness to collaborate in a positive manner and provided advice with social signals only in some tasks, improved the human performance even in another task where no direct advice was given. Moreover, the social robot reduced the mental workload measured by the integrated skin conductance response during the multitasking scenario. Our results showed a new approach to improve multitasking performance in a mixed team with humans and social humanoid robots. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

MMA is a global sport with a growing body of psychological literature. Our main objective was to replicate and extend a past review concerning the sport psychology literature with MMA participants. We conducted our electronic search in EBSCO with the following databases: SPORTDiscus, PsycINFO, ERIC, and Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection. Our eligibility criteria were research articles (a) found in academic journals, (b) with MMA participants, and (c) at least one topic found in sport psychology literature. After conducting a PRISMA-guided search, 16 studies met our inclusion criteria. The studies spanned from 2011 to 2021, with 795 MMA participants from the USA (n = 7), Brazil (n = 4), and one study each from Czechia, Poland, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. From studies reporting mean ages, MMA participants were in their mid-20s (M = 26.55 ± 2.38 years of age). The results section includes risk of bias ratings across five areas (i.e., subject selection, sample’s MMA background, participant anonymity, data collection procedures, and questionnaire or qualitative theme reporting). More risk of bias concerns resulted with the quantitative than qualitative articles. To best represent the studies, we presented separate results tables with many specifics for both the quantitative (i.e., topic, main analysis, time frame, summary of results, and meaningfulness) and qualitative studies (topic, main analysis, time frame, and main themes). The included studies covered a variety of historic and meta-analyzed topics such as confidence, mood, motivations, and social facilitation. Based on our review, we discussed the literature strengths and limitations, and suggested future research directions. Last, we provided practical points for both MMA participants and their trainers.

Animals confronted with any kind of novelty show behavioural responses driven by avoidance and exploration. The expression of both tendencies is modulated by anxiety. Especially in group-living animals, the presence of conspecifics can reduce anxiety in novel situations and hence increase exploratory tendency. Such intensified behavioural responses triggered by the social environment of an individual are called social facilitation. Here, we tested for social facilitation on the exploratory tendency of group-living juvenile Green chromide cichlid fish (Etroplus suratensis) by assessing each individual twice in an open field test: once alone and once together with a conspecific. Contrary to our expectations, we found no difference in exploratory behaviour between the groups. However, our results suggest that changes in exploratory tendency across the two treatments were highly individual, both in extent and direction, and are likely driven by the presence of the conspecific and the focal individual's own behavioural type. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Grounded in social facilitation theory, this study examined the impact of co-acting competitors (i.e., opponents) on elite biathletes' shooting performance based on World Cup competition data. To this end, the impact of the number as well as the mean overlapping time with co-acting competitors at the shooting range on both shooting time and shooting accuracy was assessed. Competition data of World Cup races from 2005 to 2020 were analysed. This included 115 mass start and 195 pursuit events of a total of 758 elite biathletes amounting to 57.251 shooting bouts equivalent to a total of 286.255 shots. Data was analysed using a fixed effects model. Results revealed two main findings: First, the more co-acting opponents were present at the shooting range, the shorter (i.e., better) was shooting time. However, more co-acting opponents were also associated with decreased shooting accuracy in mass start, but not in pursuit. Second, a longer temporal overlap with co-acting opponents negatively affected biathletes' shooting time. There was no effect on shooting accuracy. To conclude, the present study provides first evidence for a link between co-acting competitors and shooting performance in elite biathletes by analysing ecologically valid, real world data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The development of drug policies has been a major focus for policy-makers across North America in light of the ongoing public health emergency caused by the overdose crisis. In this context, the current study examined stakeholders' experiences and perceptions of power and value in a drug policy-making process in a North American city using qualitative, questionnaire, and social network data., Methods: We interviewed 18 people who participated in the development of a drug policy proposal between October 2021 and March 2022. They represented different groups and organizations, including government (n = 3), people who use drugs-led advocacy organizations (n = 5), other drug policy advocacy organizations (n = 5), research (n = 3) and police (n = 2). Most of them identified as men (n = 8) and white (n = 16), and their ages ranged between 30 and 80 years old (median = 50). Social network analysis questionnaires and semi-structured qualitative interviews were administered via Zoom. Social network data were analysed using igraph in R, and qualitative data were analysed using thematic analysis. The analyses explored perceptions of value and power within a drug policy-making network., Results: The policy-making network showed that connections could be found across participants from different groups, with government officials being the most central. Qualitative data showed that inclusion in the network and centrality did not necessarily translate into feeling powerful or valued. Many participants were dissatisfied with the process despite having structurally advantageous positions or self-reporting moderately high quantitative value scores. Participants who viewed themselves as more valued acknowledged many process shortcomings, but they also saw it as more balanced or fair than those who felt undervalued., Conclusions: While participation can make stakeholders and communities feel valued and empowered, our findings highlight that inclusion, position and diversity of connections in a drug policy-making network do not, in and of itself, guarantee these outcomes. Instead, policy-makers must provide transparent terms of reference guidelines and include highly skilled facilitators in policy discussions. This is particularly important in policy processes that involve historical power imbalances in the context of a pressing public health emergency., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Surveillance is ubiquitous. It is well known that the presence of other people (in-person or remote, actual or perceived) increases performance on simple tasks and decreases performance in complex tasks (Zajonc 1965). But little is known about these phenomena in the context of video games, with recent advances finding that they do not necessarily extend to games (Emmerich and Masuch 2018). In Experiment 1 (N=1489; No Observation vs. Researcher Observing), we find that participants observed by a researcher played significantly longer, and performed significantly better, across three video games. Moreover, we find some support that participants observed by a researcher score higher on player experience and intrinsic motivation. In Experiment 2 (N=843; Researcher Observing vs. Professor Observing), we seek to understand whether different roles differing in their perceived evaluativeness would influence the effects of observation. We find that participants observed by a professor had, at times, significantly lower performance, player experience, intrinsic motivation, playing time, and higher anxiety. In Experiment 3 (N=1358; No Observation vs. Researcher Observing), we further validate Experiment 1 by extending our results to three additional game genres. Here, we provide the largest study on observation in video games to date. The study is also the first to show that observer type can significantly influence player outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of the study was to examine how international college students' attendance at college sporting events influence social facilitation, cultural maintenance, adaptation to a multicultural environment, satisfaction with college, and positive word-of-mouth. A total of 302 international students were sampled from public universities in the Midwest area and data were analyzed using structural equation modeling. The results of the study showed attendance at college sporting events positively affected social facilitation and in turn positively predicted cultural maintenance, adaptation to a multicultural environment, satisfaction with college, and positive word-of-mouth. The findings of the study contribute to understanding international college students' college experience and provide college administrators with practical information regarding recruitment and retention strategies for international students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The world today faces accelerating changes in customer needs and a steady reduction in environmental resources. In such a situation, checking consumer behavior is essential. Consumer behavior refers to all the thoughts, feelings, and actions that an individual has or takes before or while buying any product, service, or idea. Considering that one of the declining resources in the world today is water resources, this study examines consumer behavior in local water markets as a case study. The studied area is the Zayandehrood basin of Iran, which, in recent years, has faced major problems in water resources decline. This has caused many social crises, especially in the agriculture section with the highest consumption. The focus of local water markets has recently been on this national issue, but its full implementation requires structural, legal, economic, and social reforms. Factors such as farmers' fear of unemployment, fear of decrease in agricultural land prices, and fear of migrations from the village have pushed farmers to resist the implementation of such markets. In recent years, the experience of water problems has brought the corresponding organizations to the conclusion that, merely with concentration on economic, technical, and engineering issues, water crises cannot be solved and the need for attention to social dimensions and consumer behavior management is essential. Therefore, in this research, the prerequisits are already provided for the formation of water markets not from the technical and economic vision, but from the social dimension. This is the distinction of this research from other research works. Methodology: This study is developmental in terms of purpose. It is conducted through the grounded theory and Gtopsis. The case study in this paper is the water market, and the statistical population includes three groups of experts (academics, farmers, and water industry experts). The sampling is by snowball method. The data collection tool is interviews. By the use of the qualitative approach of grounded theory, the factors affecting consumer behavior are identified with the aim of designing a social capital management model. An appropriate model is designed, and then the identified factors are ranked with the group Topsis approach. Results and Discussion: In order to meet the aim of the study, which is to design a social capital management model to facilitate the implementation of the water market, it was decided to use grounded theory. For this purpose, first, it was necessary to identify the variables affecting the model. The variables were the factors affecting the behavior of consumers (farmers) and encouraging participation in the water market. The data analysis was carried out using the grounded theory in three stages of open, axial and selective coding. One of the most important results of this research is the ranking of factors affecting consumer behavior and planning based on them to attract popular participation in the implementation of the water market. After designing the model, in order to make the best use of the results and answer the second part of the main research question, the researcher proceeded to rank the identified factors with the group TOPSIS approach. The factors that encourage social participation in the formation of the water market include factors related to the regulatory body and the government, cultural-situational and lifestyle factors, factors related to publicity and awareness, demographic factors, factors related to the household economy, environmental factors, product-related factors, sales factors, factors related to production inputs, and factors related to the intention to buy. Conclusion: The results of this research can be used to identify the factors affecting the implementation of a water market in the social dimension. The study suggests certain ways of encouraging farmers to participate in water market implementation and, ultimately, attracting more farmers, improving the market conditions, increasing customer satisfaction, improving the community's welfare and saving more water resources. The results of the research show that, of the variables affecting social capital management, the factors related to the supervisory institution and government and situational-cultural and lifestyle along with the factors related to publicity and public awareness are the most important in the implementing and development of water markets. The suggestions that can be made for future research include integrating the proposed model with other patterns, using suitable software for qualitative data, applying the method in different local markets, and comparing the results. Overall, it seems that the proposed model helps to achieve public welfare, save water resources, predict consumer behavior in the formation of the water market, and solve social problems associated with its implementation.

BackgroundWhile the public health benefits of new HCV treatments depend on treatment adherence, particularly among people who inject drugs (PWID), several social and medical factors can jeopardize treatment adherence. The aim of this study is to examine the qualitative literature on facilitators to HCV treatment adherence among PWID.MethodsWe searched six databases to identify qualitative research studies on HCV treatment adherence facilitators among PWID. Two reviewers independently extracted and analyzed data using PRISMA guidelines and the CASP tool to evaluate study quality.ResultsFrom ten studies representing data from 525 participants, three major themes emerged across studies: logistical facilitators within health systems enhanced HCV treatment adherence, positive social interactions between PWID and staff provided positive feedback during treatment, and HCV treatment may complicate the addiction recovery process.ConclusionsAlthough PWID face several barriers to adherence, we identified treatment adherence facilitators that could be incorporated into clinical practice.

Early contact to plant-based feed (creep feed) should stimu- late the adaption of the gastrointestinal system and promote gut development, with the desired effect of less physiological stress at weaning, lower incidence of diarrhoea and high- er growth rates due to better feed efficiency. From May 2013 to July 2015 we studied the feed intake behaviour of piglets during a 6-week suckling period (93 farrowings, 917 weaned piglets). The piglets were born in one of two different free farrowing systems for one sow, after two weeks half of the farrowing batches were transferred to a group suckling system from their initial housing system (2x2 factorial design: initial housing organic or conventional and subsequent grouping or not). We observed the time the piglets began to consume relevant amounts of creep feed, the quantities they consumed, their growth rates and the frequency and length of their visits at two locations for feeding (piglet area, trough of sow). Additionally, we tested whether intervisibility between the two feeding areas influenced feed intake of the piglets. Piglets that remained in the single suckling systems consumed 18.6±4 g piglet-1 (organic) and 26.1±4 g piglet-1 (conventional) on days 7-9 after the beginning of the creep feeding period. In the same time period, piglets transferred to the group suckling system from organic pens consumed 7.1±4 g piglet-1 and piglets from conventional pens 16.2±4 g piglet-1. Piglets that remained in the organic single suckling pen were heaviest at weaning (11.9±0.2 kg) but consumed only 43.6±19 g piglet-1 on days 22-24 after beginning of the creep feeding period. Piglets in the group suckling system consumed 125.0 g piglet-1 (conventional) and 236.4 g piglet-1 (organic), but weighed only 10.6 kg (conventional) and 11.0 kg (organic). Subsequent grouping and the interaction of initial housing, grouping and day had a statistically significant effect on feed intake (grouping: p=0.03; interaction: p

Ratings of perceived exertion (RPE) are frequently used to monitor and prescribe exercise intensity. However, studies examining the shape and robustness of how feelings of effort map onto objective outputs are limited and report inconsistent results. To address this, we investigated whether (1) producing isometric forces according to RPE levels reliably leads to differences in force output, (2) if feelings of effort map linearly or non-linearly onto force output, and (3) if this mapping is robust when visual feedback and social facilitation are present. In a counterbalanced repeated measures design, N = 26 participants performed isometric handgrip contractions prescribed by ten levels of the Borg CR-10 scale. They did so either with or without the availability of concurrent visual feedback regarding their force production, and in the presence or absence of another person performing the same task simultaneously. We found that subjects reliably produced different force outputs that corresponded to each RPE level. Furthermore, concurrent visual feedback led to a linearization of force output, while in the absence of feedback, the produced forces could also be described by quadratic and cubic functions. Exploratory post-hoc analyses revealed that participants perceived moderate RPE levels to be more challenging to produce. By shedding light on the dynamic nature of the mapping between RPE and objective performance, our findings provide helpful insights regarding the utility of RPE scales. • The relationship between prescribed RPE ratings and force output is not purely linear. • Visual feedback and social facilitation influence the mapping of RPE onto force output. • Prescribing isometric handgrip contractions via the Borg CR-10 scale leads to distinguishable force outputs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Signals are fundamental to communication, and theory suggests signals may evolve to coordinate cooperation on complex tasks. Several recent studies have demonstrated that hatchling turtles vocalize within the subterranean nest cavity, and these vocalizations are hypothesized to promote hatching synchrony and coordinate emergence from subterranean nests (social facilitation hypothesis). Here we test assumptions and predictions of the social facilitation hypothesis in the snapping turtle, Chelydra serpentina , a species with a broad distribution. First, we demonstrate that C. serpentina hatchlings have a vocal repertoire: we identified six types of vocalizations in a simulated nest environment, with one vocalization type occurring before egg pipping and all six types occurring in the 24 h following egg pipping and hatching. We found that Simpson's diversity was greater for vocalizations during the hatching stage compared to the emergence stage and was minimal during the prepipping stage. Second, we manipulated egg burial depth (shallow or deep) and sociality (presence or absence of siblings) in a 2 × 2 factorial design. We found that eggs in the social treatment hatched earlier and lost less mass while emerging from the nest, underlining a likely energetic benefit to hatchlings emerging with siblings versus emerging alone. Third, we tested a subhypothesis of the social facilitation hypothesis, which is that embryos cue hatching in response to hatchling vocalizations. However, vocalization playback to late-stage (prepipping) embryos did not alter pipping date relative to controls. Our combined results provide some support for the social facilitation hypothesis: there are likely energetic benefits to group emergence, embryos in a group hatch earlier, but earlier group hatching is not cued by vocalizations per se. Our study contributes to a growing literature on the adaptive significance of sociality in reptiles and helps disentangle the proximate drivers of vocalizations in hatchling turtles. • Snapping turtle hatchlings produce at least six vocalization types in the nest. • Relatively complex vocalizations were only present during hatching and emergence. • Eggs in the presence of clutchmates hatched earlier than eggs hatching alone. • Hatchlings emerging in a group lost less mass than hatchlings emerging alone. • Playback of pipping vocalizations did not cue hatching. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When eating with strangers, people tend to eat less than they would when eating alone (social inhibition of eating), whereas they tend to eat more with family and friends (social facilitation of eating). To assess awareness of the social inhibition and facilitation of eating we conducted two online studies (Study 1:N = 481; Study 2:N = 485). In Study 1, participants imagined a dining scenario and indicated whether they would eat the same, more, or less when eating with someone who was more or less familiar to them (friend; family member; acquaintance; stranger) compared with when eating alone. Results from Study 1 indicated that participants imagined eating special meals with friends/family and so, in Study 2, another group of participants made the same predictions as for Study 1, but they did so for special and regular meals. In Study 1, a significant majority of participants said that they would "eat less" with a stranger/acquaintance. A similar proportion of participants said that they would "eat the same" or "eat more" when with a friend/family member and significantly fewer participants said that they would "eat less" with a friend/family member. In Study 2, the majority of participants said that they would "eat less" with a stranger across both special and regular meals. For meals with an acquaintance, the majority of participants reported that they would "eat the same" during regular meals, while for special meals, equal numbers said that they would "eat the same" as would "eat less." The majority of participants indicated that they would "eat more" during a special meal with a friend/family member. However, for regular meals with a friend/family member, a significant majority of participants said that they would "eat the same." Hence, participants acknowledge the social inhibition of intake and the social facilitation of eating at special meals, but they are either unwilling or unable to acknowledge that they would eat more with a friend/family member at a regular meal compared with eating alone. Raising awareness that eating with friends/family is associated with greater intake at regular meals may be helpful for individuals who are trying to manage their intake. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we tested the hypothesis that eating together has a stronger influence on food intake than having information on others' food intake. Sixteen women were allowed to eat as many snacks as they liked in four minutes under four conditions: (1) Eating alone while looking at information that others ate a lot; (2) Eating alone while looking at information that others ate a little; (3) Eating with others while looking at information that others ate a lot; and (4) Eating with other people while looking at information that others ate a little. The number of snacks eaten under each condition was calculated. Under conditions 2 and 4, 11.4 ± 7.8 and 11.9 ± 7.0 snacks were consumed, respectively. For conditions 1 and 3, 14.1 ± 6.6 and 10.0 ± 4.6 snacks were eaten, respectively. Compared to when eating alone, subjects ate fewer snacks when they ate with other people. Therefore, it may be deduced that this study supports the hypothesis that social norms influence individual behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We propose a new wearable agent, “FinU (Friend in You),” based on the hypothesis that inducing social facilitation effect, i.e., the effect of having other agents around to increase the task performance, is possible, even for wearable agents with a single sensory modality, by establishing beliefs about the agent in advance. Our agent system, FinU, consists of two devices: FinU-Box, a box-shaped device that synchronizes visual, auditory, and tactile stimuli to represent an agent living on the user’s hand, and the FinU-Band, a wearable device worn on the hand with a sensory modality limited to tactile stimuli. In this study, in addition to the development of the system, we also conducted preliminarily evaluation by dividing the participants into two experimental conditions: one in which subjects interacted with the agent using the FinU-Box beforehand, and one in which participants did not use the FinU-Band. By having the user learn beliefs about the agent from the FinU-Box, it was expected that the user would attribute higher presence to the agent than if they had not learned beliefs. Participants were then tested on a continuous performance task to measure the effect of social facilitation, which was expected to improve performance, and their performance was compared across conditions. We assumed that higher performance indicated a stronger sense of agent presence. The results showed that the social facilitation effect was stronger for participants who had experienced the FinU-Box beforehand, as they responded more accurately to the task stimuli. This suggests that our system, which combining a device that presents a rich sensory experience with a wearable device that presents a single sensory experience would allow the agent’s presence to be more strongly felt by the user.